National Team Match:
Japan 3 - 0 New Zealand

Date: 8 June, 2003 Location: St. Denis Stadium, France Japan 3 1 1H 0 2 2H 0 0 New Zealand Nakamura (12') Nakata (65') Nakamura (75') Scoring Santos Inamoto Cautions ??? Seigo Narazaki, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Keisuke Tsuboi, Nobuhisa Yamada, Alessandro Santos, Juniichi Inamoto, Yasuhito Endo, Shunsuke Nakamura, Hidetoshi Nakata, Naohiro Takahara, Yoshito Okubo Mike Utting; Duncan Oughton, Chris Zoricich, Ryan Nelsen, Gerard Davis, Ivan Vicelich, Simon Elliot, Aaran Lines (Noah Hickey, 70), Mark Burton (Chris Jackson, 73), Vaughan Coveny, Chris Killen (Chris Bouckenhooghe, 79)

Japan got off to a convincing start at the Confederations' Cup with a 3-0 victory over New Zealand that was never as close as the score line might suggest. It is important to keep in mind that this is the weakest opponent Japan has faced since Zico took over as head coach, and there were certainly some elements of play that the team will need to improve. Having said that, Japan looked mch more effective than they have in any match up to now, and the team is starting to play the sort of football that Zico must have envisioned when designing his team strategy.

It helped that Japan seized the early lead. One factor that has troubled the team in the past is its tendency to get impatient and lose concentration when its initial efforts fail to produce a score. In this case, though, Shunsuke Nakamura gave Japan a quick advantage on a lovely finish in the 12 minute. Youngster Yoshito Okubo took a long pass into theright corner and then pulled back when his path to goal was cut off. Spotting Nakata just inside the penalty arc, he dropped the ball back towards midfield. But as Nakata waited for the pass, Naohiro Takahara sliced in from midfield on a slanting run into the box. Nakata allowed the ball to roll past and Takahara took it through the last line of defence, surging past Nakata's marker, drawing the final defender and then pushing it through to Nakamura at the left post. Nakamura was headed a bit wide of the goal mouth, but he showed fine composure in measuring the keeper and then tucking the ball back at a sharp angle to catch the inside of the right post and bounce into the netting.

Intense ball pressure and good short passing work kept New Zealand in retreat for the rest of the first half, but Japan narrowly failed to increase its advantage. On two separate plays -- one a corner kick and one a centering pass from Alex Santos -- Takahara had a chance to head the ball at an open net, but on both occasions his contact was a bit too light and the ball sailed wide. Clearly, the young man needs to grow some hair on his head, to provide that extra milimeter of "reach" that would have turned both opportunities into goals.

Immediately after the break, New Zealand had its most effective spell of the match, pressing forward on the wings and trying to lob a ball for their towering strikers to head on net. The strategy worked relatively well in that New Zealand's front men were able to exploit Tsuneyasu Miyamoto's lack of height and jumbing ability. However, some effective team defence kept the Kiwis on the perimeter of the box for most of the time. Seigo Narazaki was forced to make one very nice save, but most of the shots were relatively easy to handle.

Unfortunately for New Zealand, in pressing forward on the wings they were forced to leave more open space in the Japanese midfield that Nakamura, Hidetoshi Nakata and Junichi Inamoto began to exploit. In the 65 minute, Japan got the opportunity they were waiting for as a quick clearance sent Nakata away into open space with three men in support. Takahara sliced in from the left side towards the goal mouth, Inamoto cut in the opposite direction, towards the left corner, and Okubo dashed down the right sideline waving frantically to indicate the open pasture in front of him. The New Zealand defenders all reacted to the cutting attackers, leaving Nakata completely unmarked as he dribbled forward from midfield. Big mistake! As nakata neared the top of the penalty arc and still had no defender in front of him, he apparently decided: "well, if youre going to make it THIS easy . . . " Nakata's unimpeded rocket from the top of the box left the keeper flatfooted, and tested the strength of the seam at the top left corner of the netting.

At this point, New Zealand's efforts to get back into the match drained away like air out of a deflating balloon. Despite three substititions aimed at bolstering the attacking midfield, they were unable to even hold the ball for any length of time as Japan played with growing confidence and poise. In the 75 minute, another counter saw Yasuhito Endo feed Nobuhisa Yamada down the right wing, and the Reds forward had all the time in the world to set up, search for a cutting teammate and place a cross onto the head of Nakamura. The Reggina midfielder nodded the ball into the low right side of the net and the advantage rose to 3-0.

At this point, Japan fans must have been looking for a substitution. Several players -- particularly Nakamura, Takahara and Okubo -- were clearly running out of gas, and a judicious substitution or two might well have provided the freshness and speed necessary to extend the lead. Given the brutal scheduling of the Confederations' Cup (five matches in eleven days) you would think that Zico would want to give some players a rest. Whether it is because he plans to field a very different lineup against France (certainly a possibility), or whether it is because he wants to prickle the pride of the players who have been relegated to the bench (oddly enough, the same players who were his "A" team just two weeks ago), Zico let the starters play out the full 90 minutes. This decision may have prevented Japan from adding a goal or two in the dying minutes, since both Okubo and Takahara had breakaway opportunities but failed to use them effectively due merely to the fact that they were utterly nackered. Nevertheless, Japan had victory well in hand, and cruised through the final fifteen minutes to claim the win.

Below is the full roster for the match against New Zealand: