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National Team Match: |
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Japan's first national team match of the year left fans shaking their heads once again, as Zico's boys put on a fine display of dazzling midfield play and good attacking football, only to see it all slip away due to some extremely poor goalkeeping. Thout Japan's greatest strength is clearly its midfield, the defence actually did quite a good job as well, keeping Recoba and his compatriots at bay for almost the entire match. But two errors by keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, including one dumbfounding fumble of an easy corner kick, gifted Uruguay with two goals and despite numerous opportunities at the other end, Japan could only tally two of their own, settling for a 2-2 draw at Tokyo's National Stadium.
All three of Japan's matches since Zico took over the reins from Phillipe Troussier in September of last year have highlighted a very attractive and exciting style of play, but fans are still waiting for the team to register its first win. This match looked, on a number of occasions, like it might be the win they were waiting for, but in the end the winning goal proved elusive. From the opening kick, Japan's midfield put heavy pressure on the Uruguayans, allowing them to dominate both possession and field position. Good passing exchanges by midfielders Shinji Ono, Shunsuke Nakamura, Hidetoshi Nakata and Junichi Inamoto, combined with Takayuki Suzuki's bulish post play and Naohiro Takahara's slashing runs had Uruguay on the defensive, and forced a number of fouls which earned the visitors four yellow cards in the first half alone.
But on Uruguay's first truly dangerous foray into Japanese territory, in the 20 minute, Recova took the ball down the left sideline and, with his defender playing him a bit loose, crossed in for Forlan, on the left side of the box, who managed to flick the ball towards the near post with his head. It was a solid, and well-placed shot, but if Kawaguchi had been playing at the post, rather than standing in the center of his net (inexplicable, since Forlan was the only Argentine player within shouting distance), he probably could have kept it out.
Japan responded well to the early deficit, coming back immediately with an offensive surge. Nakamura took a drop pass from Ono and laid a perfect through pass for the cutting Suzuki which left all of the Argentine defenders flatfooted. Suzuki had the ball in front of him with nothing but open net in sight, and the last Uruguayan defender had no choice but to pull him to the ground with an over-the-shoulder suplex. The referee immediately pointed to the spot, and Nakamura leveled the scores in the 22 minute.
But no sooner had his teammates taken him off the hook than Kawaguchi locked himself back in the doghouse with a play that will certainly not help him escape from the Portsmouth bench. Uruguay won a corner kick on the right side, and the cross came in shoulder-high at the edge of the three-yard box. There were no Uruguay players in the vicinity, so all Kawaguchi needed to do was catch the ball, and the pressure would have been off. But somehow, he managed to let the ball squirt between his hands, off his shoulder, and into a crowd of players at the far post. Someone (Recova, according to the official scorer, but to our eyes it looked like #2, not #10) toed the ball into the net and Japan was a goal behind once more.
To their credit, Japan's field players kept their heads up and were immediately back on the attack, producing a great deal of pressure that had Uruguay fouling repeatedly to keep cutting players from breaking loose into the box. As a result, Japan had two excellent free kick opportunities in the 30 and 32 minute. Nakamura nearly leveled the score sith the first of these, placing a perfect loop shot over the wall and towards the right poxt, but the ball hit the woodwork and bounded away. Ono also had a chance from about 25 meters, but sent it over the crossbar. Just before half time, Japan closed out a good offensive performance with a back-door cut by Takahara, who took a through pass from Suzuki but had his shot kicked just clear of the post by the Uruguay keeper.
The second half was much like the first. Japan dominated possession and had some excellent opportunities, while Uruguay defended vigorously and only forayed into attack on rare occasions when they got a good chance for a quick counter. Alex Santos replaced Nakamura at the intermission, and Koji Nakata came on for Ono, and both put on performances that were at least as good as the players they replaced. Alex used his speed to create many overlap opportunities on the left win, while Nakata K. seemed to turn up in an opportune spot time after time, snatching balls away from the counterattacking opponents and slipping into attack on occasion as well.
All in all, despite the disappointment of settling for a draw, Japan showed some good qualities in this match. Surely one of the two goals conceded -- if not both -- can be put down simply to Kawaguchi's horrendous performance. Perhaps it is not surprising, considering that the Portsmouth benchwarmer has not played a competitive match in almost a year. However, based on this performance, it seems unlikely that he will get any more starts for the national team in the foreseeable future. With either Seigo Narazaki or Hitoshi Sogahata in net, Japan would have won this match 2-1, or perhaps even 2-0. The rest of the team was quite sharp. Shinji Ono looked a bit lethargic, but played some very nice balls to his forwards. Hide Nakata had one of his best performances in quite some time, and Inamoto, though disappearing for a few stretches, performed well when he was near the heart of the action. Nakamura perhaps has shown the greatest improvement of any of the midfielders, displaying both greater strength and greater poise than he did before joining Reggina. Both Alex and Koji Nakata added a threatening dimension to the offence when they came in.
On defence, Japan looked more solid than in their matches against Jamaica or Argentina, though Hattori continues to be something of a weak link. Akita was his usual solid self and Morioka did well filling in for the injured Matsuda. Narahashi had several good runs, but spent most of his time doubling up on Recova to keep Uruguay from launching counterattacks. Apart from Kawaguchi, the biggest disappointment was probably the play of the two forwards. Both ran hard and contrubuted to the defence as well as the offence, but neither one got off a solid shot. Late in the match, Suzuki was replaced by Teruaki Kurobe, who made his first national team start. In his very first touch of the ball, Kurobe headed a cross from Alex back across the face of goal, providing a glimmer of opportunity for Nakata to poke it home, but thereafter he was pretty quiet. Zico has only had three matches to organise his team and impart his strategy to the players, so it is certainly not time to panic. However, it might be a good idea for him to start taking in a lot of J.League matches, with an eye out for some new striker candidates. Takahara and Suzuki just dont have the sort of skills to carry the offence, and until Japan addresses this weakness, the brilliance of its midfield players will continue to go unrewarded.
National Team
Overseas Players
Japan 2 - 2 Uruguay 