were there any friendlies in 2011 before AC? Genuine question, I can't remember. Maybe closed doors ones?
Here's one of those then: http://www.hochi.co.jp/soccer/japan/20141215-OHT1T50004.html vs Auckland City on the 4th of january. more a practice match than a friendly but should give some indications about Aguirre's plans I guess
Asian Cup 2015 final roster: Japan GK KAWASHIMA Eiji (Standard Liege/Belgium) HIGASHIGUCHI Masaaki (Gamba Osaka) NISHIKAWA Shusaku (Urawa Reds) HAYASHI Akihiro (Sagan Tosu) GONDA Shuichi (FC Tokyo) DF MIZUMOTO Hiroki (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) NAGATOMO Yuto (Internazionale/Italy) MAKINO Tomoaki (Urawa Reds) MORISHIGE Masato (FC Tokyo) OTA Kosuke (FC Tokyo) NISHI Daigo (Kashima Antlers) YASUDA Michihiro (Sagan Tosu) UCHIDA Atsuto (FC Schalke 04/Germany) YOSHIDA Maya (Southampton FC/England) SHIOTANI Tsukasa (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) SUZUKI Daisuke (Kashiwa Reysol) SAKAI Hiroki (Hannover 96/Germany) SAKAI Gotoku (VfB Stuttgart/Germany) SHOJI Gen (Kashima Antlers) MATSUBARA Ken (Albirex Niigata) UEDA Naomichi (Kashima Antlers) MF ENDO Yasuhito (Gamba Osaka) KONNO Yasuyuki (Gamba Osaka) HASEBE Makoto (Eintracht Frankfurt/Germany) AOYAMA Toshihiro (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) HOSOGAI Hajime (Hertha BSC Berlin/Germany) TANAKA Junya (Sporting/Portugal) KAGAWA Shinji (Borussia Dortmund/Germany) KIYOTAKE Hiroshi (Hannover 96/Germany) YAMAGUCHI Hotaru (Cerezo Osaka) TAGUCHI Taishi (Nagoya Grampus) MORIOKA Ryota (Vissel Kobe) SHIBASAKI Gaku (Kashima Antlers) OHSHIMA Ryota (Kawasaki Frontale) FW OKUBO Yoshito (Kawasaki Frontale) TOYODA Yohei (Sagan Tosu) OKAZAKI Shinji (1.FSV Mainz 05/Germany) HONDA Keisuke (AC Milan/Italy)) KOBAYASHI Yu (Kawasaki Frontale) INUI Takashi (Eintracht Frankfurt/Germany) NAGAI Kensuke (Nagoya Grampus) KAKITANI Yoichiro (FC Basel 1893/Switzerland) OSAKO Yuya (1.FC Koeln/Germany) HARAGUCHI Genki (Hertha BSC Berlin/Germany) MINAGAWA Yusuke (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) USAMI Takashi (Gamba Osaka) MUTO Yoshinori (FC Tokyo) MIYAICHI Ryo (FC Twente/Netherlands) KUBO Yuya (BSC Young Boys/Switzerland) MINAMINO Takumi (Cerezo Osaka)
FULL SQUAD FOR ASIAN CUP Goalkeepers Eiji KAWASHIMA (Standard Liege - Belgium) Masaaki HIGASHIGUCHI (Gamba Osaka) Shusaku NISHIKAWA (Urawa Reds) Defenders Yuto NAGATOMO (Inter Milan - Italy) Masato MORISHIGE (FC Tokyo) Kosuke OTA (FC Tokyo) Atsuto UCHIDA (Schalke 04 - Germany) Maya YOSHIDA (Southampton FC - England) Tsukasa SHIOTANI (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) Gotoku SAKAI (VfB Stuttgart - Germany) Gen SHOJI (Kashima Antlers) Midfield Yasuhito ENDO (Gamba Osaka) Yasuyuki KONNO (Gamba Osaka) Makoto HASEBE (Eintracht Frankfurt - Germany) Shinji KAGAWA (Borussia Dortmund - Germany) Hiroshi KIYOTAKE (Hannover 96 -Germany) Gaku SHIBASAKI (Kashima Antlers) Forwards Yohei TOYODA (Sagan Tosu) Shinji OKAZAKI (Mainz 05 - Germany) Keisuke HONDA (AC Milan - Italy) Yu KOBAYASHI (Kawasaki Frontale) Takashi INUI (Eintracht Frankfurt - Germany) Yoshinori MUTO (FC Tokyo) Aguirre left home Hayashi, Gonda, Mizumoto, Nishi, Matsubara, Makino, Yasuda, Aoyama, Hosogai, Tanaka, Yamaguchi (sure?), Oshima, Morioka, Taguchi, Osako, Haraguchi, Minagawa, Kakitani, Kubo, Okubo, Minamino and Miyaichi. Especially no Usami (WTF?)
Yamaguchi it's normally Gordon. He just recovered from his injury, Kakitani didn't played so much for Basel.
fifa About old guard http://www.fifa.com/world-match-centre/news/newsid/249/272/8/index.html "My philosophy is to use versatile players capable of playing in a number of positions," added Aguirre. "It's important the "I don't look at age, I look at quality," insisted the 56-year-old, who led Mexico to the last 16 of the 2002 and 2010 World Cups. "I knew about the experienced players three or four years before coming to Japan. I knew how good they were. I wanted to give the younger players the chance to win their places and some of them have done so.
So 9 changes from WC squad: Higashiguchi - Ota - Shiotani - Shoiji - Shibasaki - Toyoda - Inui - Kobayashi - Muto Except Inui and Toyoda (and to some extent Ota and Higashiguchi) all other players are newcomers brought to the team by Aguirre. Happy to see Kiyotake back to the team as he will add a much needed quality to the team.
Only two flaws in this squad: 1) Usami HAD to be taken in Australia 2) I think the squad misses a good DMF beside Hasebe. I don't see Konno in that position and I'd prefer a healthy Yamaguchi or Hosogai.
Because he's not playing enough and not having a good season, I don't think I need to lay out the reasons for each player.
Don't see anything strange\unexpected if we don't count Usamigate haha. Nice to see Kiyo back to the team. Still feels kinda weird to see Gotoku and not Hiroki though even if Ota has done well Taguchi wins the prize for the previous nonsense convocations tho
No sorry I didn't really meant he was especially bad, I merely found funny that he got 3 consecutive callups, pretty much played only in one, and then didn't make the squad. Just can't really follow the logic.
http://www.euronews.com/sport/2843344-aguirre-herrera-named-in-spanish-matchfixing-case/ ... Teguramori!
It seems like the prosecutor have some credible evidence in his hand now and will be ready to open the court case in the coming months. It will be Aguirre's end as JNT coach I assume. ...or maybe they have enough money to buy a judge? lol, that's how the world rolls anyway
hmm but the article sounds like the same old news to me? I mean, in that article at least I don't see anything new ? Hara has already said "we can only trust his innocence unless he's proven guilty" so I dunno. Granted, if he has to appear in court during the Asian Cup that could be a different matter but I wouldn't be surprised if he could postpone even that
It's looking worse everyday for Aguirre, reports say there's written proof he agreed to fix a match. A local replacement is apparently already waiting.