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National Team Match: |
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It was the last national team match of 2005, and no doubt fans of the Japan National Team were looking for some sort of omen. . . . some sign of encouragement that they can hang on to through the cold winter months, to keep their spirits high as they move into 2006 -- the World Cup year. Well, an omen is what they got. No doubt about that. But somehow we get the feeling that the portents provided by this match were just a bit different from what the media-deluded, hero-worshipping contingent of national team fans were expecting.
No, despite the many newspaper headlines this morning which tried to paint Hidetoshi Nakata or Junichi Inamoto as the creative force which would carry Japan to victory, neither one had a real impact on the contest. OK, that isnt quite true . . . Hide did make one pivotal play, in which he blocked a teammate's point-blank shot on net with his . . . well . . . his butt--tocks ("hey Nakata, get your ass out of the way next time!").
And though the mainstream press made a great deal of the injuries which kept Akira Kaji, Teruyuki Moniwa and Mituso Ogasawara out of this contest, their absence had no effect on the outcome. On the contrary, while one could argue that Ogasawara would have been a useful player to have on the bench, Kaji's absence was actually a boon, since it demonstrated a point that the Rising Sun News has been making for nearly two years.
But lets not get ahead of ourselves. Best to begin at the beginning
First of all, though the final result of this contest left us feeling rather optimistic, that by no means can dispel the concern we feel about the national team's persistent inability to play up to its potential. OK, when they face off against a top-level opponent in a crucial match (such as the Confederations Cup match with Brazil or the final WC qualifier against Iran), they seem to take their performance up a notch, and can look very powerful indeed. But the truly great teams are the ones who can not only put in a great performance in the crucial contests against top opposition, but can also do away with lesser opposition quickly, convincingly and without a lot of unnecessary struggle. Japan are clearly not in that category yet. Not by a long shot.
For one thing, the team simply squanders too many good scoring opportunities. If a good finishing team like Sweden, Holland or the Czech Republic got as many quality scoring chances ans Japan did in this contest (or conversely, if Japan could finish as effectively as Baros, Koller & Nedved, or Riquelme, Crespo & Saviola), they would probably win by five or six goals. Over the first 15 minutes of this match, in particular, Japan had the opportunity to quickly put the final result beyond doubt, and turn it into a mere training exercise. But Naohiro Takahara hit the crossbar twice, and Atsushi Yanagisawa sent three close-range shots straight at the keeper.
A second problem relates to the team's apparent inability to get "fired up". The cool composure and apparent imperviousness to pressure exhibited by Japanese players is widely known, and is often viewed as a strength. That sometimes is true; you will almost never see a Japanese team panic, or fall apart after a conceded goal and get blown out. Composure is a quality that is highly prized both in the J.League and the national team, and players with a tendency to "lose their cool" often find themselves marginalized by the JFA (the best example being Mallorca striker Yoshito Okubo). But this quality has its negative side as well. Japanese players hardly ever get fired up for crucial matches, or respond to pressure from opponents with a burst of passionate effort.
This is particularly true of the top stars, like Hide Nakata, Junichi Inamoto and Shunsuke Nakamura. In the Angola match (as has been the case in many other matches this year), Nakata and Nakamura often looked bored and jaded, giving up on 50:50 balls or backing away from potential challenges . . . with predictable results in terms of controlling the flow of play. Make no mistake, Japan looked the better team for most of this match. Angola were a game opponent with a well-schooled defence and clever dribblers up front. But the best they were able to manage were a dozen or so long-range shots, only one of which really tested keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi. But the one annoying fact which has persisted throughout the Zico Era was that they simply did not seize the initiative and finish their opponent off when they had the opportunity.
Yes, we know. Youve heard this rant before. In fact, the Rising Sun News could probably save time and disk space by simply cutting and pasting sentences from previous match reports . . . we seem to cover the same ground so often.
But the Angola match WAS subtly different from all those matches that have gone before. And it wasnt so much a difference in quality, or content of play. On the contrary, the thing that distinguished this contest from so many similar matches that the Japan NT has played this year was the personnel who stepped in to get the job done. Two players, in particular, put their stamp on this contest, and neither one has been a key member of the NT in the past. Indeed, all of the players who contributed to the play which brought Japan victory have at one time or another been maligned, dismissed as unworthy of NT inclusion, or otherwise belittled by the same mainstream media which feeds us regular doses of hero-worshiping opiates, in the flavour of the week (be it Nakata, Oguro, Kubo, Tamada . . . or if you have been around a bit longer, Kazu, Nakayama, Maezono and Jo).
In our view, the player of the match against Angola was Yuichi Komano -- a bulldog of a right wing who has been ignored time and time again by the media, despite some of the most remarkable statistics in the J.League and a work ethic which makes Sisyphus look like a lazy slacker. In our view, the absence of Akira Kaji, due to injury, could not have come at a better time. Komano turned in very solid performances in the two matches against Latvia and Ukraine, last month, but due to the discouraging results of those contests, his contributions were largely overlooked. In this contest, he put in a monstrous performance, both on offence and on defence. The only weaknesses he exhibited were a lack of decisiveness in the attacking zone. On two or three occasions in the first half, he hesitated before making a move into the right corner, just when it looked like he might have been able to demolish the Angola defence. This hesitation allowed Angolan defenders to scramble back and cover up the danger. Nevertheless, the more opportunities he has to play at the NT level, the more cofidence he will gain, and it is already clear that his two-way skills are beyond comparison with a mediocre player such as Kaji.
The second player who made his mark in this match was Daisuke Matui, who fully deserves to be viewed as the "hero" of this match. A year in France has transformed Matsui completely. Before he left, he had earned a reputations (which we thought was well deserved) as a technically gifted and clever dribbler whose obvious skills were more than offset by a complete lack of testosterone and a severe aversion to hard work. Today, he is a hard-nosed, confident and thoroughly seasoned competitor, whose performance against Angola showed that he is ready to push players like Nakata and Nakamura aside, and claim a central role in the Japan midfield. One example will suffice to show how much he has changed in one short year. Back in mid-2004, we described Matsui (and a few of his U-23 teammates) with the following tirade:
"(This is) the most limp-wristed group of shrinking violets to come out of Japan in the past 2500 years. Though they may have the potential to play skilled, highly technical football when the opportunity presents itself, (they are) completely incapable of emotion and intensity, or for that matter, even the slightest intimation of masculine pride or testicular fortitude. You might as well put a up great big sign in the stadium before each match to inform the opponents: "Easily intimidated. Will not fight back when bullied."
One year later, Matsui is a very different sort of person indeed. Shortly after coming on as a second-half substitute, he found himself muscled off the ball twice in a row by very cynical shoulder charges on the sideline, which sent him tumbling out of bounds. Though Matsui protested to the referee, the complaints fell on deaf ears. On the very next play, he set off after his opposing number, and as the opponent turned the corner and headed down the sideline, Matsui flung himself like a missle into the Angolan wing, sending him headlong into the drainage channel along the edge of the pitch. The referee was quickly on the scene with a yellow card, but Matsui did not even deign to look at him. The message was delivered . . . dont F**K with me.
It would be easy to go through the usual list of complaints about various players and various elements of the match. Poor defending and failure to chase back into coverage (yes, you know who Im talking about . . . . "You can call me Al"), atrocious finishing (well, that just about covers everyone, donnit?), clueless substitutions (Abe in for WHO??? Or are you just suggesting that the LESS a player works, the more chance he has of staying in the lineup). But fortunately, those complaints are no longer worth the expense of hot air.
Because after all was said and done, with time running down towards the final whistle, Japan's most neglegted and maligned national team candidates finally signalled that they are tired of being treated as footnotes, and that they are ready to take over as the leading lights of the NT. A surging move that flowed from Nakamura through Yuki Abe and down the sideline to Komano broke through the Angolan defence, and Komano fed Yanagisawa for a close-range shot . . . only for Hide Nakata to dash in front of the play and block the point-blank shot with his buttocks! An Angolan defender cleared the ball over the right sideline. But Komano instantly pounced on the ball and flung it to Nakamura, who measured the range and send a soaring cross towards the far (left) post. Yanagisawa raced after it, leaping high at the goal line and heading the ball back across the face of goal. Matsui soared through the air at the right post, like the old Muhammed Ali cliche -- float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Bzzzzzzz . . . . Take that, Angola.
They say that you shouldnt place too much importance on the results of one match. Particularly when it is "just a friendly". That may be true. Certainly, there are more than enough reasons to remain apprehensive abut Japan's prospects for the 2006 World Cup. The problems that we have complained about over and over, for the past three-and-a-half years, are still very much in evidence.
But somehow, something has changed. This final match of 2005 seemed to hint at a transition. A page has been turned. A new chapter begun. In that one breif instant, as two of Japan's most frequently criticised players drifted through the air like late-autumn leaves, nodding the ball from one to the other . . . Yanagisawa . . . to Matsui . . . dom-pishaaahhh . . . to the back of the net . . .
. . . something indefinable was changed forever.
The curtain falls on Japan's quest for a spot in the 2006 World Cup. The actors take their bows. The crowd applauds, and turns towards the exit. The year has ended. Perhaps you could say that an era has ended. The achievements, and the failures. The victories and defeats. All of it, for good or for bad. All the preparation, anticipation, tribulation and celebration that has gone before -- all of that -- is now just a chapter of history, written in a dusty old book.
But the future ? . . . .
THAT has yet to be written.
National Team
Overseas Players
Japan 1 - 0 Angola 