National Team Match:
Japan 1 - 1 England

Date: 1 June, 2004 Location: Manchester, England. Japan 1 0 1H 1 1 2H 0 1 England Shnji Ono (53') Scoring Michael Owen (22') Cautions Seigo Narazaki, Keisuke Tsuboi, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Yuji Nakazawa, Junichi Inamoto (Takashi Fukunishi 85), Shinji Ono, Akira Kaji, Shunsuke Nakamura, Alessandro Santos Tatsuhiko Kubo (Takayuki Suzuki 60), Keiji Tamada (Atsushi Yanagisawa 60) David James, Gary Neville (Phil Neville 86), Ashley Cole, John Terry (King 88), Sol Campbell, Frank Lampard (Nicky Butt 82 ) David Beckham (Ashley Cole 82), Steven Gerrard (Owen Hargreaves 82 ), Paul Scholes (Kieron Dyer 77), Michael Owen (Vassell, 77) Wayne Rooney (Emile Heskey 77)

Considering the great anticipation with which we all looked forward to this contest, the actual event at City of Manchester stadium left one a bit disappointed, not so much for the result, but rather for the team's failure to produce the sort of excitement which Japan is capable of generating. A careful consideration of the performances must be tempered by the knowledge that several starters were playing hurt. Shinji Ono was a shadow of his normal self and Shunsuke Nakamura almost invisible. Though Alex Santos had flashes of quality, he also was clearly at less than 100%. With these considerations in mind, it was not a bad performance.

But anyone who follows Japan faithfully will feel a sense of ennui, considering what might have been. The biggest disappointment of all was the team's play over the first 20 minutes of the match, when they looked at times to be on the verge of getting blown off the pitch. These are all experienced players who have a fairly large number of international caps under their belts, so one would expect them to perform like professionals regardless of the opponent. but over the first 20 minutes of play, Japan looked like a bunch of starstruck schoolboys awed by the venue and the opponent, and unable to even put one foot in front of the other. Not to tke too much away from England, though. They may have faded as the match went on, but they came out like young lions, putting ferocious pressure on the Japan goal, and winning almost every loose ball. The result was complete dominance with Japan not even clearing their zone over the first 15 minutes of play.

And then, just as they finally seemed to be collecting their wits and getting ready to play football, a crucial blunder put Japan in an early hole. Steven Gerrard took a pass from Beckham in an open position, just above the penalty arc, and tried to find an opening on net. Junichi Inamoto actually did a good job of closing the gap and screening his shot, allowing only a half-look at goal and a low but hard shot straight at the keeper. But the usually sure-handed Seigo Narazaki made a howling error, failing to smother the shot and spilling the ball right onto the shoelaces of Michael Owen. It was a gift that Owen was not about to refuse, and he chipped the ball into the back of the net with ease.

This blunder seemed to finally wake the players up, and over the next ten minutes, they finally began to show signs of their usual quality. Though still a bit disorganised, the team began to move more quickly to loose balls and their exchange of passes tightened up considerably. It wasnt until the half hour mark, though, that Japan finally started to create some smooth, flowing attacks, and when their first opportunity -- a quick shot by Kubo from the right side of the box -- sailed inches wide of the far post, you could see the confidence beginning to build. Over the final 15 minutes of the half, Japan put on a strong challenge, playing England dead even and actually producing a greater number of shots. Both Nakamura and Santos had shots tipped away by the England Keeper, and Tsuneyasu Miyamoto had a golden opportunity to equalise on a corner from the right side, but headed wide of the near post. As half time approached, Japan were robbed of another brilliant chance to equalise when Alex Santos froze the defence with a hesitation move, then made a sudden dash into the box. Paul Scholes clearly took him down from the side with an illegal tackle, after he had crossed into the box, but the referee turned a blind eye and rescued England, allowing them to take their lead into the locker room.

Incidentally, for a regular J.League watcher, it must be said that the officiating in this contest was excellent. Though the missed PK call was a clear error, it was the only significant one of the match. There were a few balls that went out of play off an England player but were called a goal kick, and a few marginal offsides calls that actually looked to be onside -- the sort of calls you can generally expect in an away match -- but otherwise the officiating was light-years ahead of what we see week in and week out in the J.League.

Japan came out for the restart in much better form, and one can only speculate on what might have happened if they had displayed the same professionalism in the first 20 minutes that they did in the second half. A good bit of pressure at midfield and trapping by the two wings produced a number of offensive chances. For the first time in the match, Nakamura, Santos and Ono seemed to be playing at what approaches their usual form, and it was no surprise when the three combined to produce Japan's equaliser. Nakamura used one of his patented misdirection feints to the middle to give Santos a chance to slip unnoticed around the left wing, then delivered a perfect ball with the outside of his left boot, as Santos cut towards the middle. The ball reached him a step outside the box, and he immediately redirected it in front of goal. Ono had begun a dash out of midfield the second Nakamura released his pass, and Santos spotted him perfectly, rolling the ball right into his path. Ono slammed a low shot through the pack in front of goal, and hit the back of the net.

This goal gave Japan a huge boost in confidence, and though England put on a surge of pressure to try to restore their lead, it was actually Japan who almost took the upper hand with Ono, Inamoto and Nakamura beginning to establish control over midfield. This was apparently the signal for Zico to turn to the bench, bringing on Atsushi Yanagisawa and Takayuki Suzuki at the two striker spots. Surprisingly, both playersmade a positive contribution over the final 30 minutes. Although Suzuki produced some laughably poor passes, his strength in holding the ball in the post annoyed the England defenders, and produced some openings in the back. Yanagisawa failed to do much in the attacking zone, but his support for the buildup, as a sort of sixth midfielder, helped generate openings as well. Six minutes after coming on he delivered a perfect through pass that send Nakamura into the clear, and only a fine save by James kept the match leve. Between the 60 and 75 minutes, Japan clearly seemed to have the upper hand, and they looked like they might snatch the lead for a moment, when Sol Campbell brought down Suzuki from behind, just five meters outside the box, and straight away from goal. Ono made a nice fake to get the wall leaning the wrong way, but Nakamura's drive sailed just a bit too high, and the chance was missed.

At this point, Sven Eriksson went to his bench as well, bringing on strikers Heskey and Vassell, as well as Keiron Dyer. When this failed to produce the offensive pressure he desired, he went further, bringing on five more subs over the final 15 minutes. But as one might expect, these wholesale changes did as much to disrupt England's flow as they did to increase the pressure on Japan's defence. As a result, though England made a few mildly threatening pushes in the late stages of play, the only real difference was that the fresher England players were able to beat Japan's exhausted midfield to the loose balls, and Japan's last hopes of gaining a late victory evaporated. Two late corner kicks as injury time approached gave England their final chance of restoring a lead, but in the end the match ended as it probably deserved to do -- in a slightly disappointing stalemate.

All the same, Japan will have to be feeling good about this tour, taking home a win and a draw against two quality European opponents. An upset win would have been nice, but this result should satisfy Zico as he prepares for the World Cup qualifier next week, against India.

Below is the full roster for the European tour: