National Team Match:
Japan 4 - 1 Thailand

Date: 25 July, 2004 Location: Chongqing Stadium, China Japan 4 1 1H 1 3 2H 0 1 Thailand Nakamura (21') Nakazawa (57') Fukunishi (69') Nakazawa (87') Scoring Sutee Suksomkit (12') Cautions Suttee Suksomkit Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Makoto Tanaka (Mitsuo Ogasawara 45), Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Yuji Nakazawa, Yasuhito Endo, Takashi Fukunishi (Koji Nakata 88), Akira Kaji, Shunsuke Nakamura, Alessandro Santos, Takayuki Suzuki, Keiji Tamada (Masashi Motoyama 45) Kosin Hathairatanakul, Niweat Siriwong, Choktwee Promrut, Nirut Sirasiang, Worachai Surinsirirat (Teda Keelalay 56), Nataporn Panrit, Sakda Joemdee, Datsakon Thonglao (Phitchitpong Chaikamdee 61), Issawa Singtong (Narongchai Vachiraban 70), Suttee Suksomkit, Rangsan Vivatchaichok

As we have been saying for at least the past month, Japan may be contesting the Asia Cup with an understrength squad, but their biggest problem has been the failure of Zico to start the players who ARE available in an effective lineup. This point was demonstrated about as bluntly as anyone could ask for, in the match agains Thailand on Saturday. After the misfits and slackers of the squad bumbled to a 1-1 halftime score, Zico FINALLY brought in two of the players that we have been waiting to see for months -- Masashi Motoyama and Mitsuo Ogasawara -- and the result was immediate and unmistakeable. Now that the point has been made, Japan's hopes in the Asia Cup have improved slightly. But it remains an open question whether or not Zico has learned his lesson. If he fails to learn his lesson, and goes back to pathetic players like Makoto Tanaka and Keiji Tamada, the team could still be making an early trip home.

The conditions in China have been oppressive, to be sure. The challenges that Japan is forced to surmount go well beyond the high temperatures and humidity which sap energy and slow the pace of play. After all, the opponents face the same conditions. But for Japan, the oppressive climate is intensified by the attitude of the local Chinese fans, who stood and booed Japan's national anthem, and loudly booed every time they touched the ball in the first half. No doubt there will be some apologists who try to justify this loutish behaviour on the basis of "historical factors", or suggest that since Japan are the Cup holders, it is natural for the crowd to be hostile. To those people, the Rising Sun News says: Bollocks! This is not some political arena or protest venue -- it is a football match. Sport is supposed to be above politics, and while it may be true that it sometimes fails to live up to this ideal, booing the national anthem of another team -- and AT A NEUTRAL MATCH, NO LESS -- crosses the line of bad taste . . . and then some. Even at the height of the cold war, Americans and Russians did not stand and boo one anothers' national anthems at a sporting event. And while the announcers on Japanese television did their best to laugh off the incident, this should provide no comfort to the people organising the event. If this is the sort of "sportsmanship" that the people of China display to their guests, perhaps it is time for the Olympic committee to reconsider their selection of Beijing for the 2008 games.

For those who came to this match to vent their ire at Japan, there was plenty to cheer (and boo) about in the first 15 minutes or so of the match. Japan came out as flat and uninspired as they did against Oman, and the result was a minor disaster of bungled passes, poor movement and intense pressure by the Thais. Just 11 minutes into the contest, Keiji Tamada collected a pass at midfield with his back to his defender, and was pummelled to the ground by an obvious foul. But the referee failed to blow the whisle, and while the Japanese players stood around motioning the Thais to put the ball out of play, so Tamada could receive medical attention, their ace striker, Sutti simply continued to press towards goal. This may highlight one of the weaknesses of Japanese football, from a strictly machiavellian standpoint. There are many countries in the world where, in similar circumstances, if the opponent failed to put the ball out of play despite repeated appeals from the defence, a defender would have simply walked up to Sutti and given him a good kick in the kneecap. No doubt, my university football coach would have been screaming from the sidelines: "break his leg! break his leg!" Probably the inclination towards fair play which is ingrained in the Japanese footballer's character should be viewed as a positive thing, in the long run. But in situations like this one, it doesnt pay to be "too nice". Since the defenders continued to back away and point towards the sideline, Sutti continued towards goal, cut across the middle and sent a shot into the low corner of the net, beyond the reach of keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi.

Though this sent the crowd into ecstatic celebrations, 12 minutes of the match had been played, and the circumstances of Thailand's goal simply made Japan's players angry. Over the next ten minutes, Japan put on its most intense pressure of the first half, with even lazy bums like Takashi Fukunishi and Tamada running hard for the ball. Japan came close to responding immediately, as Takayuki Suzuki headed narrowly over the bar from a corner kick. But in the 21 minute, Japan's pressure produced a free kick about six meters outside the penalty box, almost straight out from the right post. Shunsuke Nakamura, who is deadly at that range, drilled a left footed hook shot into the low right corner, and the match was back on level terms.

Thereafter, Japan showed enough intensity to maintain the clear advantage, but the pressure they had displayed for the preceding ten minutes faded, and the match became very much like the second half of the Oman contest, with little imagination and not enough movement off the ball to produce breaks in the nine-man Thailand defence. The two teams went in at half time with the score still deadlocked at 1-1.

When the two teams came out for the second half, Zico had FINALLY come to his senses and replaced some of the weakest links in his squad. Defender Makoto Tanaka came off and the team switched to a 4-4-2 formation (though considering the positions of the outside backs, perhaps it would be better to call it a 2-6-2. Mitsuo Ogasawara came in for Takana, joining Nakamura at the point in midfield, and making it impossible for the Thais to double (or triple) cover him, as they had in the first half. But perhaps even more importantly, Masashi Motoyama replaced the lackluster Tamada, and actually began *running* for the ball, rather than just strolling leisurely in the direction of goal. This immediately changed the character of the match. Even before Japan finally got the go-ahead goal, it was clear that the contest was no longer in doubt. Even the crowd was cowed into silence, as Japan spent almost the entire 45 minutes of the second half on the Thai side of midfield. After several close calls, Japan finally got the crucial goal on a corner kick from the left side. Nakamura played a short ball which came out to Ogasawara just oustide the box. His drive on net was blocked by a defender, but the deflection fell right to Yuji Nakazawa, at the right intersection of the box and the penalty arc. His blast was unobstructed, and found the low right corner, putting Japan in front.

For the remainder of the contest, Thailand was steadily dismantled by the midfield passing work of Nakamura, Ogasawara, Motoyama and Santos. Some vieweres will be disappointed that Japan did not score more goals than they did, considering how dominant their play was. But considering the oppressive heat, and the fact that Thailand spent much of the time with ten players inside their own penalty area, it was perhaps no surprise. The first insurance goal came on a set play, as Takashi Fukunishi headed home from a Nakamura corner. With time running down, Japan got theironly goal from the run of play, as Yasuhito Endo took a pass from Ogasawara into the left corner, then lobbed to the far post where Nakazawa had slipped forward from his defensive position. "Bomberhead" slammed it home to complete the second-half rout. One cant help but wonder what might have been, if Zico had started the match with this same lineup. We can only hope that he is capable of learning from experience, and will select his lineup accordingly for future matches.

Of course, the next contest could be a rather dull one for Japan fans, since Japan have already clinched a spot in the knockout round, and face Iran, who are still fighting for their lives. The results of all the other pools will be known before the Japan-Iran contest kicks off, and of Korea does manage to win pool B, Japan just might prefer to lose to Iran, allowing them to face Jordan, rather than Korea in the quarterfinal. Regardless of these calculations, it seems likely that Zico will rest key players now that he knows the team will be progressing to the quarterfinals.

Below is the full roster for the match agains Thailand: