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National Team Match: |
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Japan can feel quite satisfied with their performance in Germany, in this Confederations Cup tournament. It is hard enough to achieve success when you play a top-level team like Brazil. But to have to play a full 45 minutes against the samba superstars, and then have to play the second 45 minutes against the Kuwaiti national team . . . . well, Japan just didnt have the stamina to overcome two separate opponents on the same day.
Yes, I know what some of you are going to say. But that just proves what a good job the makeup crew did in making the Kuwaitis look like Brazilians. Put it this way -- when have you ever seen Brazil resort to grassrolling and feigned injury to waste time. Does Ronaldinho throw himself to the ground when an opposing player hasnt even touched him, clutch the ball and writhe about for five minutes in pretended agony?
No, it was simply a very effective makeup job, which make that player LOOK like Ronaldinho. We know better. No other team on earth is as skilled and as effective at grassrolling, and the evidence leaves no doubt. The team that came out of the opposing locker room in the second half was NOT Brazil, it was Kuwait. No other conclusion is possible.
Japan did a valiant job of trying to fight their way back into the contest, and they very nearly succeeded. But the Kuwaitis were simply too adept at wasting time, and in the end, the clock ran out on Japan's hopes of progressing to the semifinals. They managed to preserve the lead that Brazil had given them, at half time, and not concede an equaliser until late in the match, on a free kick by Nakamura which came back off the post and was volleyed home by Masashi Oguro. Jpan did their best to produce thew winner, but the Kuwaitis were just too strong.
At the end of the day, Japan have only themselves to blame . . .
Wait a minute, what am I saying? They had one perfectly legitimate goal disallowed at the start of the match, for what the linesman claimed was an offside play but the replay clearly showed was no such thing. Then, with injury time running out on them, Masashi Oguro's header was deflected over the end line by the Kuwaiti keeper, but for some inexplicable reason the referee gave a goal kick, instead of a corner. Of COURSE Japan has other people to blame besides themselves.
But that is not to say that they will leave Germany without some self-recriminations. Brazil's second goal was conceded due to a horrible mistake by Alex Santos, who also picked up a very unnecessary yellow card. Mitsuo Ogasawara had what was surely his worst match ever in a national team shirt, and couldnt seem to do anything right. Though this is not a reflection on his usual standard of play, he certainly was a demerit to Japan on this occasion, and it was a releif to see him taken ou, along with the ineffective Keiji Tamada, at half time.
Brazil were certainly a formidable opponent, with Cichinhos coring their first goal on a brilliant strike, and then Ronaldinho punishing Santos's defensive blunder with a second tally. If they had been willing to play the second half themselves, instead of sending the Kuwaitis out in their place, the match might have been more entertaining, and they might even have put the contest to bed early with an insurance goal. But instead, what we got in the second half was a farcical display of pitch invasions by rowdy fans, grass-rolling by the Kuwaitis, and some extremely disappointing officiating.
After struggling for 40 minutes of the second half against these delaying tactics, Japan finally equalised on a free kick by Shunsuke Nakamura, from just outside the box. Nakamura's shot was just milimeters off target, and came back off the right post. But Masashi Oguro was on hand to volley it home, and Japan immediately threw everyone forward for one last push. A high cross to the left post found Oguro open once again, and he sent a sinking header for the near corner. But the keeper deflected the ball out of play, over the end line. At first, it looked like Takashi Fukunihsi had kept the ball in, and Takayuki Suzuki collected it on the right side of the box. He was immediately asaulted from behind by an opposing player, and probably should have been awarded a PK. But when faced with only two possible calls -- corner kick to Japan or penalty kick to Japan -- the referee opted to give Kuwait a goal kick.
This killed off Japan's hopes once and for all, and Brazil will no doubt be thanking the Kuwaitis for their hard effort in the second half, to preserve the lead. Brazil -- based on their performance during the 45 minutes that they took part -- deserve to be playing in the semifinal. They looked the more accomplished and technically brilliant team, over the opening 45 minutes, and even if we overlook Kaji's disallowed goal, they probably had the talent and pace to add another goal if it had been a question of survival.
But in the future, the rules of the Confederations Cup need to be changed. It is unfair to allow a team like Brazil to build a first-half lead and then send in a bunch of unimaginative, time-wasting, defensive grassrollers like Kuwait in to play in their stead, during the second half. If Brazil want to advance to the knockout round of a tournament, they should have to play for the full 90 minutes, and not send a bunch of cheap hacks in to take their places over the final 45 minutes.
It isnt fair to the fans, and it isnt fair to the opponents.
National Team
Overseas Players
Japan 2 - 2 Brazil 