2000 Carlsberg Cup (vs Hong Kong)

0-0 (5-4 PK)

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Date: February 7, 2000		Location: Hong Kong Stadium
Japan	0 1H 0 0 2H 0 0 ET1 0 0 ET2 0 6 PK 5	Hong Kong
	Scoring
Inamoto Matsuda	Cautions	Yiu Cheuk Poon Kalkanov Ambassa
Takeshi Hirano (81')	Sent Off

In early 2000, Phillippe Troussier finally began rebuilding his national team around a younger core of players. The catastrophic results that the team brougn home from the Copa America, in 1999, very nearly cost Troussier his job. If not for the fine performance of the U-23 team, which was racking up a string of impressive wins in its bid to qualify for the Sydney Olympics, Troussier probably would have been shown the door in early 2000. At the Carlsberg Cup , an exhibition tournament held in Hong Kong in early 2000, Troussier began shifting to a younger lineup that drew a number of players from the Olympic team, particularly defenders Koji Nakata and Naoki Matsuda, and midfielders Junichi Inamoto and Shinji Ono.

After losing the first match of the Carlsberg Cup to Mexico, in a close but nevertheless disappointing match, Japan took on the home team in a full and very loud Happy Valley Stadium, and put on the first performance that began to suggest positive things for the team in the future. Japan's finishing was horrible, as the disastrous duo of Kazu Miura and Masashi Nakayama proved unable to find the net even with binoculars and a clear road map. However, the midfield play of Ono, Inamoto and Nakamura sparkled, and showed that these three midfielders, at least, had very promising careers ahead of them. Japan was threatening to score as the clock wound down in regulation time, but then Takeshi Hirano committed a stupid foul that earned him a red card, and Japan's opportunities evaporated.

Nevertheless, the defence remained solid, and Hong Kong had few chances to threaten the Japanese goal. Nevertheless, poor finishing sent this match into extra time, and then to penalty kicks, without a goal having been scored. In the PK shootout, Japan prevailed by a 6-5 score, as Seigo Narazaki made a key stop on the final Hong Kong shooter.

*NOTE: This match was not recorded as an international "A" match because Hong Kong used several non-Hong Kong residents as players

Seigo Narazaki, Go Oiwa (Takeshi Hirano 45), Naoki Matsuda, Yuji Nakazawa, Toshihiro Hattori , Shigeyoshi Mochizuki (Tomohiro Myojin 66), Hiroshi Nanami, Masaaki Sawanobori (Daisuke Oku 45), Junichi Inamoto, Masashi Nakayama (Shunsuke Nakamura 70), Kazuyoshi Miura (Tomoyuki Hirase 59)

Michael Leonardo, Christiano Cordiero, Dimitre Kalkanov, Dejan Antonic, Gary Laterza (Paul Ritchie 86), Poon Yu-Cheuk (Guy Ambassa 45), Gerardo Laterza, Lai Kai-Cheuk (Ricardo Rambo 66), Leandro Simioni, Cheng Siu-Chung, Alen Bajkusa (Tony Giacomelli 62)

Full Roster

Pos.	Name	Birth	Team	Ht	Wt
GK	Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi	8/15/1975	Yokohama Marinos	181	75
	Seigo Narazaki	4/15/1976	Nagoya Grampus	185	76
DF	Go Oiwa	8/6/1970	Kashima Antlers	180	80
	Naoki Matsuda	3/14/1977	Yokohama Marinos	183	78
	Koji Nakata	7/9/1979	Kashima Antlers	182	74
	Yuji Nakazawa	2/25/1978	Tokyo Verdy	187	78
	Toshihiro Hattori	9/23/1973	Jubilo Iwata	178	73
MF	Masaaki Sawanobori	1/12/1970	Shimizu S-Pulse	170	66
	Shigeyoshi Mochizuki	7/9/1973	Nagoya Grampus	178	68
	Teruyoshi Ito	8/31/1974	Shimizu S-Pulse	168	72
	Takeshi Hirano	7/15/1974	Nagoya Grampus	178	73
	Daisuke Oku	2/7/1976	Jubilo Iwata	173	72
	Tomokazu Myojin	1/24/1978	Kashiwa Reysol	173	66
	Shunsuke Nakamura	6/24/1978	Yokohama Marinos	178	69
	Junichi Inamoto	9/18/1979	Gamba Osaka	181	75
	Shinji Ono	9/27/1979	Urawa Reds	175	75
FW	Masashi Nakayama	9/23/1967	Jubilo Iwata	178	72
	Kazu Miura	2/26/1967	Kyoto Purple Sanga	177	72
	Tomoyuki Hirase	5/23/1977	Kashima Antlers	184	75
	Kenji Fukuda	10/21/1977	Nagoya Grampus	179	73
	Naohiro Takahara	6/4/1979	Jubilo Iwata	181	75