National Team Match:
Japan 1 - 0 Tunisia

Date: 8 October, 2003 Location: Tunis, Tunisia Japan 1 1 1H 0 0 2H 0 0 Tunisia Yanagisawa (39') Scoring Cautions Bou Awadi Jadiri Seigo Narazaki, Akira Kaji, Teruaki Moniwa, Yuji Nakazawa, Atsuhiro Miura, Junichi Inamoto, Shinji Ono, Shunsuke Nakamura, Hidetoshi Nakata, Takayuki Suzuki (Yoshito Okubo 89), Atsushi Yanagisawa (Toshiya Fujita 77) Fadel, Hatra, Trabelsi, Ayali, Bou Awadi, Mahedavi, Nafti, Shedri, Ben Azur, Jadiri, Bou Rahim

Zico Japan took their show on the road this month, with a two-week tour of Europe and North Africa. In the first match of the trip, the team was deprived of several key players, due to Nabisco Cup commitments in Japan and Naohiro Takahara's decision to sit out after being poked in the eye earlier this week, and join the team in Rumania for the second match of the tour. The combination of player replacements -- Japan's entire back line was composed of individuals who have not seen any national team action under Zico -- and a Tunisian offside trap that would make even Phillippe Troussier blush, kept Japan's offence relatively quiet. However, though some fans may gripe about the "lack of excitement", the team showed signs of gaining maturity (or at any rate, "cynical realism") in their approach to the match.

Japan played this match with a world-class "away game" mentality, focusing mainly on defence, avoiding foolish errors and taking only those opportunities that the opposition presented them with. Once in the lead, they shrugged off all evidence of dodgy officiating and seemed quite content to waste time rather than push for a second goal, if that was the only option they were given. Again, some will complain that this made the match rather dull, but if Japan are to become a world-class team, they will need to know how to win dull matches as well as exciting ones. In this particular case, Zico and his players will no doubt feel that they accomplished their mission.

Japan came out with a rather makeshift lineup, due to the absence of several of the usual starters. Keisuke Tsuboi, Nobuhisa Yamada and Alex Santos all took part in Nabisco Cup matches, in Japan, just a few hours before the Tunisia match kicked off, and will join the team later this week to prepare for Saturday's match against Romania. As a result, the starting back four consisted of two complete newcomers and two returnees who have not seen national team action since early in the Troussier era. Yuji Nakazawa, who showed early promise under Troussier due to his strength in the air, but was eventually dropped because he was not adept at the sort of line control and offside traps that the "flat three" employed, was the anchor of the back line, and had a very strong match. Joining him in the middle was Teruaki Moniwa, a regular selection in the U-22 squad who was making his first appearance for the full national team. At right wing was another newcomer, Akira Kaji, who was a member of Japan's second-place U-20 squad at the World Youth Championships in 1999 but has never received a call to the full national squad. On the opposite sideline, veteran Atsuhiro Miura made his return to the national team for the first time in over three years. He also saw some action early in Troussier's reiign, but was dropped following a weak performance at the Sydney Olympics, in 2000.

The four newcomers were a bit shaky and uncertain at times, but they generally acquitted themselves well. Kaji, in particular, showed good instincts in running the overlap and very nearly collected his first national team goal. However, he was exploited repeatedly in the first half by Tunisia's wings, and will have to tighten up his defending before he can expect to displace Yamada in a starting spot. Japan's midfield played rather deep throughout the match, perhaps to lend support to the undested back line, and this limited the quantity of attacks. However, the strategy was quite sound. Tunisia had the better share of possession and field position, but created very few clear-cut chances. Keeper Seigo Narazaki was only tested seriously on two or three occasions, and all of them went by the boards, due to inefficient finishing by the strikers. On offence, however, Japan had some difficulties. Tunisia was trapping ferociously, preventing the midfield from sending any balls into the front line. This offside trap was bolstered by the two linesmen, whose flags rescued the defence on several occasions when the offside trap seemed to have been beaten. Atsushi Yanagisawa was the more effective of the two strikers, while Takayuki Suzuki continues to show that he really does not have the ability to play at this level. Japan's chances were limited for most of the first half, but there were signs that just a tiny bit of luck would cause the Tunisian defence to collapse like a house of cards. Sure enough, in the 39 minute Shunsuke Nakamura mad a steal at midfield and started to surge forward. Unfortunately he let the ball get a bit too far ahead of him and a defender cleared it, but the ball fell right at the feet of Moniwa and he immediately launched a long lead pass to the front line. Tunisia's defenders had been caught out by their own offside trap. When Nakamura's dribble was cleared, Yanagisawa had time to get back onside, and when Moniwa launched the long bomb, he was off and running with no defenders within shouting distance. Yanagisawa caught up with the ball five meters outside the box, hesitated once to see which way the outrushing keeper would lean, then rolled a soft ball into the left corner of the net.

The second half was much like the first. Tunisia put on a bit more pressure, and this provided Japan with a few more counterattacking opportnunities, but in general it was a defensive contest with Tunisia controlling possession yet finding no real openings for a dangerous shot. Midway through the period, Suzuki received a pass in the post, and spotten Kaji running the overlap. Tunisia's defenders were all drawn up tight, trying to catch Yanagisawa offside, and Suzuki's through pass allowed Kaji to shred the back line and dash free on the keeper. However, inexperience took its toll as Kaji tried to make a cute move and dribble past the keeper rather than just take a quick shot. Though he did manage to get the keeper on the ground, he took the ball a bit too wide and by the time he finally put the ball on net, a defender was able to retreat and clear his shot off the line.

The final 20 minutes were perhaps the dullest of all, as Tunisia resorted to physical play and repeated fouling in an effort to get the equaliser, and Japan responded by wasting a minute or more each time they received a free kick or throw-in. But in international football, the final result is what matters. And this time around Japan got the result they were looking for. Zico and his boys will be able to look forward to their next match, against Romania, with renewed confidence.

Below is the full roster for Japan's tour of Africa and Asia: