Japan 2 - 0 Tunisia

Date: 16 June, 2002 Location: Yokohama Int'l Stadium, Japan Japan 2 0 1H 0 2 2H 0 0 Tunisia Morishima (48') H.Nakata (75') Scoring Cautions br> Bouazizi Badra Seigo Narazaki, Naoki Matsuda, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Koji Nakata, Junichi Inamoto (Dasisuke Ichikawa 46), Kazuyuki Toda, Hidetoshi Nakata (Mitsuo Ogasawara 82), Shinji Ono, Kazuyuki Myojin , Takayuki Suzuki, Atsushi Yanagisawa (Hiroaki Morishima, 46) TBA

I wipe the tears away from my eyes, and struggle to steady my fingers as I begin to write this report. Yet somehow the keyboard still seems to be unsteady.

And for good reason. Japan is trembling from the Sea of Okhotsk to the souternmost island of Okinawa, with the cheers of Japanese football fans, embracing the thrill of victory at long last. For those of us who cried in the dark night of Doha, nearly a decade ago, and wept with relief in the muggy evening of Malaysia, back in 1997, the tears on our cheeks today taste sweet, like the savour of long-awaited redemption

The Japan National Team walked onto the pitch at Nagai Stadium, cast off the garb of schoolchildren and the mantle of apprentices that they have worn for so many years, and stepped onto the world stage as men -- as true equals with all other World Cup participants. I suppose you could call June 14, 2002 "Graduation Day"

Though Tunisia never showed a sign that they had abandoned all hope, it seemed to matter not a whit to the boys in blue. Japan marched out, took this match by the throat and never let go. Though tentative caution coupled with fierce physical defending by Tunisia kept them from tallying a goal in the first 45 minutes, Japan were in control of the match from the outset. Takayuki Suzuki and Atsushi Yanagisawa both had key chances that only failed to drive the first goal home because the midfield was a bit cautious about overcommiting on offense. Nevertheless, Yanagi's blast from the edge of the boz required a fine save from the Tunisia keeper, and Suzuki created several good chances in the offensive end which led to corner kicks or free kicks..

With Tunisia beginning to wilt, at the end of the half, Troussier pulled out the dagger and aimed it at the opponent's throat. In a move that many foreign announcers greeted with amazement and bemusement (for all of three minutes, before its aim became clear), Troussier replaced Yanagisawa with Hiroaki Morishima, and brought in Dasisuke Ichikawa for Junichi Inamoto, moving Myojin to the middle of the field to take Myojin's place.

After a pounding and fast-paced first half, Tunisia simply werent prepared to deal with the lightning-in-a-bottle that Morishima unleashed. In the first three minutes he seemed to be involved in almost every touch of the ball, throwing himself about the pitch with an enthusiasm and intensity that buoyed his teammates. Then, in the 48 minute, Matsuda lobbed a long ball into the box. Suzuki barreled in towards the defenders like a raging bull, and the Tunisian left back could do little by push the ball frantically away from the onrushing blonde behemoth. But his pass was too hurried and too weak. Morishima pounced on the easy prey like a hungry leopard, and hooked the ball over the keeper, into the high left corner.

Nagai Stadium exploded, and the tremor shook Japan from one end of the archipelago to the other. History was being made, and the fans all knew that this would be their day.

Just five minutes later, Morishima very nearly doubled his tally, as he threw himself onto a pretty cross into the area by Ono and headed it past the keeper. Unfortunately, the ball bounced at the base of the far post, and came back, but clearly Tunisia were in retreat. Ono added a similar header just a few minutes later, which was stopped only by a fine play on the part of the Tunisian keeper.

As the match wound down, and Tunisia finally came out of their shell, looking for a possible equalizer, Japan struck the killing blow. Ichikawa, whose fresh legs were running the Tunisian side back into the ground, picked up a ball on the right side and headed for the box. Carefully measuring the last two defenders, he waited for Hide Nakata to make his break for goal. Then with deadly precision, he snapped off a line drive that led Nakata perfectly, and the Parma midfielder slammed a header between the keeper's legs to put the conclusion beyond all doubt.

Tunisia put on a bit of a push in the final minutes, but it was far too late for any hopes of salvaging the match. At last, the final whistle sounded and a roar went up that brought tears to the eye. This is what sweet victory tastes like. It may have been very long in coming, but oh, how delicious it tastes.

One thing that I can say for certain, to all of the Rising Sun News faithful . . .

. . . if my time on this good earth should expire tonight, know that I died a happy man.

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