Japanese International Thread [R]

hey Lakeside! How've ya been?

I agree with your comments. Though to be honest, if you assume the missed penalty was a goal, the score really was 3-0. And, That was NOT offside, even I have to admit that. The ref was HORRIBLE.... he couldn't tell one player from the other, and gave out two yellows that were in error for Japan.

The difference I think between J and S was that S seemed to have only ONE aim-- defend defend defend, and then possibly counter with Dickson. Japan, on the other hand, the players had too much going on in their heads, and they had no focus after the first 20 minutes or so. They were aiming to win, for lots of points, to individually do something that shined, test out the 4-4-2 system, play in a team that's never played together before, and play with fan expectations. There was just no coherent aim like they had during the asia cup or the other WCQ games.

The other thing was that while Japan dominated the game, all that TIME they had was difficult to control -- it's like "when do we speed up?" "when do we stay patient?"...it all blurred into one long time period that had no ups and downs. There was so much stacked up in the back in Singapore, that it must not have been terribly fun for the Japanese players either. It certainly wasn't fun for me to watch Singapore.

Given that Singapore is not qualifying anyway, and there was nothing at stake like in the china/kuwait situation, Singapore should have played to score more, and not been so back-heavy and afraid to be scored on. It was the same ol same ol, and really there is no satisfaction to saying "well, at least we didn't let them score too much". It's not like Singapore is going to play Japan again in this situation for a long long time, and it would have been more fun to watch them go for it instead of sticking to a blah gameplan. (sorry, my rant!)

Given everything though, I think maybe this is a good thing for the Japan team. This outcome leaves lots of room for player changes, and a very focused gameplan for Zico when choosing new players as well as focusing on offensive strategy and creativity. If Japan had pummeled Singapore, it would have been harder to qualify any statement -- naysayers would have said, well, it was a weak team so a 7-0 scoreline is meaningless; and players would have had less of a sense of "danger" leading into the next phase. I'm looking forward to seeing what changes occur between now and next february.

 

who cares? we're already through. we can beat any team in the world with the same scoreline and that's how we show respect to minnows like singapore.

 

it's his fate.

 

I was excited the last time a US-Japan match was announced, but that obvviously fell through. If it goes on again, I would be there in an instant. Although I want Japan to beat the US, I feel the US will prevail on a 1-0 scoreline.

 

Actually, US have been playing very poorly of late. It will get worse as they are in the process of shedding some aging players. If USA & Japan play now, Japan will likely to prevail.

 

Germany

DFB has announced the national squad for the Asian tour in Japan, Korea, and Thailand.

Goalkeepers:

• Oliver KAHN (Bayern Munich)
• Timo HILDEBRAND (VfB Stuttgart)
• Simon JENTZSCH (VfL Wolfsburg)

Defenders:

• Andreas HINKEL (VfB Stuttgart)
• Philipp LAHM (VfB Stuttgart)
• Patrick OWOMOYELA (Arminia Bielefeld)
• Christian PANDER (Schalke 04)
• Per MERTESACKER (Hannover 96)
• Christian WOERNS (Borussia Dortmund)
• Robert HUTH (Chelsea, England)

Midfielders:

• Frank BAUMANN (Werder Bremen)
• Fabian ERNST (Werder Bremen)
• Tim BOROWSKI (Werder Bremen)
• Bernd SCHNEIDER (Bayer Leverkusen)
• Torsten FRINGS (Bayern Munich)
• Bastian SCHWEINSTEIGER (Bayern Munich)
• Michael BALLACK (Bayern Munich)

Fowards:

• Miroslav KLOSE (Werder Bremen)
• Gerald ASAMOAH (Schalke 04)
• Thomas BRDARIC (VfL Wolfsburg)
• Kevin KURANYI (VfB Stuttgart)
• Lukas PODOLSKI (1. FC Koln)

 

The US have been playing poorly? Where do you get that from?

I support both National Teams, and I think it would be a good, fair draw to see the two teams play. It would be a tight match.

 

Japan should win. Zico's team have been disappointing at home. Time to produce an admirable result in front of the sea of blue shirts.

The problem is that we have yet to figure out what really is Zico Japan. Seven key players didn't participate in the Asian Cup. He has to integrate all the players available into a cohesive team that works. Quickly.

I think HSV will release Takahara for the Germany game. No guts, no glory. I want them to achive something better than the Italy game (1-1 draw).

 

来夏、スペインビッグ３が来日　日本代表と対戦か＝スペインＬ

According to the club officials of Valencia, they are planning to play a cup competition in Japan in June 2005 when an expo is held in Aichi Prefecture. The participants are:

Real Madrid
Barcelona
Valencia (backed by Toyota)

Either Yokohama F Marinos or Urawa Reds (as 2004 J-League champs)
Nagoya Grampus Eight (local club backed by Toyota)
Japan NT (participating in CC during this period)

It sounds crazy to me, but I guess that the business people in the Nagoya/Aichi/Tokai region have money to do something like this because the economy is so good out there at the moment.

 

Perhaps, I have too much expectation from highly FIFA ranked USA ...

3 ties against Jamaica (2), Panama
Barely beating Grenada, Canada

Their best results of late have been 6:0 win against hapless Panama.


USA 1:1 Jamaica
USA 6:0 Panama
USA 2:0 El Salvador
USA 1:1 Panama
USA 2:0 El Salvador
USA 1:1 Jamaica
USA 1:1 Poland
USA 1:0 Canada
USA 2:3 Grenada

 

Not really stellar performances, but Japan wasn't that good in the first round, either. US should take this game seriously if it is played. They'll have to face Mexico, Costa Rica, and Guatemala in the Hex.

 

US really played poorly in 1:1 tie game to Jamaica and Panama. Only the injury time goals by Chung, Cobe saved USA from embarassing 1:0 loss. Not only that, Panama and Jamaica were playing well against USA. They were having their way with USA in those games.

 

I think it was Brian Ching who scored that late equalizer against Panama. According to SI columnist Grant Wahl, Cobi Jones was in an almost certainly offsides position when he passed the ball to Ching.

 

Japanese national team facing Germany

Goalkeepers:

• Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus Eight)
• Doi (FC Tokyo)
• Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata)

Defenders:

• Tanaka (Jubilo Iwata)
• Matsuda (Yokohama F Marinos)
• Miyamoto (Gamba Osaka)
• Santos (Urawa Reds)
• Kaji (FC Tokyo)
• Nakazawa (Yokohama F Marinos)
• Chano (JEF Ichihara)
• Nishi (Jubilo Iwata)

Midfielders:

• Inamoto (West Bromwich Albion, England) -- Welcome back
• Endo (Gamba Osaka)
• K. Nakata (Kashima Antlers)
• Ogasawara (Kashima Antlers)
• Fukunishi (Jubilo Iwata)
• Fujita (Jubilo Iwata)
• Motoyama (Kashima Antlers)

Forwards:

• Suzuki (Kashima Antlers)
• Okubo (RCD Mallorca, Spain)
• Tamada (Kashiwa Reysol)
• Takahara (Hamburger SV, Germany)

Good lineup overall, except that H. Nakata, Nakamura, and Ono are not included. Kubo and Tsuboi are recovering from injury.

 

Re: Japanese national team facing Germany

Oohhh... I don't like Suzuki. Don't understand why he's alyways there. What does Zico see in him... (he needs haircut or hairband, and to close his mouth even for a while, and mentally grow up, and.......!!!)

HIDE has been away too long. Wonder if he'd be able to make it again, with players now... (so it could be a good chance to call him for this time... pity.)

 

Re: Japanese national team facing Germany

Too true. His mouth is always open. He's one of those "defensive forwards" who can do nothing but holding the ball up front. I think either Kubo-Tamada or Takahara-Okubo would suffice.

It's good to see his goal against Barcelona, but it was a charity match. I'm saddened that he has yet to redo what he did to Bologna. Since this is the last game in 2004, we won't see him until New Year. I'm worried that he might not be able to fit in.

Japan is going to play Syria on Jan. 29th and Kazakhstan on Feb. 2nd.

 

Re: Japanese national team facing Germany

ah..., I used to hate to see O'kubo in games, with the same reason that I hate to see Suzuki now, *dirty*. But he's changed obviously. Someone (commissioner??) warned O'kubo not to play dirty, so I heard later. Actually, I like O'kubo now.

yeh... that's I've been worried very... (question: is it possible that Hide deosn't like Zico or Zico's style..., or Zico's choices = players?)

Kazakhstan?? They still have 8 games to go for group games, and they have spare time?? へぇ・・・・・。

 

Re: Japanese national team facing Germany

He's definitely growing up. He did really well in Athens. Before going to Spain, he needs to learn some European football. Germany plays a different brand of football, but it should help.

I don't know, we could only speculate about that. He seems to favor a fast runner who can outrun opposing defenders and catch up with his 'killer' passes. Suzuki and Kaji don't fit that description but Zico keeps selecting them for whatever reason. In the final round, I'd like to see a 3-4-1-2 system with Nakata serving Kubo and Tamada up front. They have never played together under Zico.

On 2/9, their rivals have WCQ games but they do not. Greece vs Denmark and Albania vs Ukraine are scheduled. Ukraine leads Group 2 with 11 points, 5 points clear of the likes of Denmark, Turkey, and Albania with 6 points, followed by Greece and Georgia (damn confusing!) with 5 points. The Kazakhs at the bottom of the table have 0 points, and there's no way in hell they can qualify out of the group containing 6 superior opponents. They've agreed to take on us because, well, they have nothing better to do on that day. The next game is on 3/26 against Denmark away. I still think their decision to leave AFC was stupid, btw.

Syria and Kazakhstan have been chosen because they are not too strong and not too weak. Just because Syria is close to Saudi Arabia/Bahrain/Kuwait, and Kazakhstan is close to Uzbekistan, doesn't mean these teams are similar football-wise, but hey, I guess it's better than nothing.

 

Re: Japanese national team facing Germany

北　朝　鮮！！​

I don't know much about their positions (i mean, if it's possible to change their positions) -- I remember O'kubo at the very first time in NT, he happily said he was impressed playing with NT, 'cuz every chance he though "now" the ball came to him... I though Hide was there, wasn't he... O'kubo can follow Nakata H. Alex, Nakazawa appear everywhere, that's my impression on them. mmm..., but at the moment, what we should concern is about Miyamoto.. He's got injured...

Kubo? Never? a-re-re... maybe i'm confused.. so-ka.

Yep. I saw the status. No way out.

By the way. North Korea is coming... I'm afraid if Japanese would behave like Chinese did in Asia Cup... booooooo

 

Re: Japanese national team facing Germany

Time for Matsuda to fill in the blank? Or Nakazawa? Chano and Tanaka are there too.

Kubo made his debut for Zico Japan against China in the EAFF Cup. That was his first and second goals for JNT. Nakata didn't play in that tourney. Kubo and Nakata played together for 45 minutes in the Oman game, and Kubo was the goalscorer. In the next game against Singapore, Tamada played with Nakata for about 15 minutes, and that was his debut, I think. Kubo didn't participate and it was Hide's last appearance. Kubo and Tamada played together as the starters in the European tour, against Hungary, Czech Republic, Iceland, and England, as well as the India game in Saitama. Only Tamada played in the Asian Cup. In short, the trio never played at the same time.

The first game is always important, and it's OK to put pressure on your enemy in football as long as hooliganism is not tolerated. It's our home game! We ain't throw bottles and cans, destroy vehicles, set fire on flags, and do that sort of thing. Well, I don't blame the players and fans (North-Korean Japanese in particular), but they deserve to get booed because of what the Dear Leader and his ilk are doing to us, South Koreans, and their own people, right now. We have to say no to their nonsensical actions. They never bother to learn about common sense.

 

Re: Japanese national team facing Germany

We need Nakazawa anyway. No, what I meant was... Miyamoto is .... kind a peace maker?? I saw many times that if Miyamoto was not there, Alex, Suzuki, whoever would start fighting during a game. Miyamoto pullled them back, as if saying "stay away" or "wake up!" "don't go for that!!" (of course, I couldn't hear what he said , but...)

Ah, so-ka. (Kubo is such a lovable boy...!! I mean, at the press interviews...)

No, not "they" but "he" -- KJ Il, ill, ill, ill!! I want to believe that North Koreans are good, nice people if KJ *ILL* was not there. eeeek!

 

Inamoto in Japan call...........

http://footballmsn.skysports.com/li...=549&title=Inamoto+in+Japan+call&channel=Asia

 

February 9: vs North Korea (home)

March 25: vs Iran (away)
--- just 5 days, from middle east back to Japan ---
March 30: vs Bahrain (home)

June 3: vs Bahrain (away)
--- just 5 days, from middle east to almost next door Japan ---
June 8: vs North Korea (away)

August 17: vs Iran (home)

=========
Ridiculous...!! Comparing to Europe groups, we have plenty time (months!!?), and why the schedule is so tight?? wish we could switch the places (home <--> away) for games against Bahrain, then... it'll be better...

 

I though Japan was gonna play Greece in January. Did this friendly never work out? Of course they will be playing at Confed cup anyway, but just wondering.