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National Team Match: |
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On January 29, Japan kicked off the second half of the "Zico Era" with a friendly match against Kazakhstan. It is useful to describe it in these terms, not only because this is the start of Japan's "Stretch Run" towards the 2006 World Cup, but also because it is inevitable that historical comparisons will be made, to judge this team's performance against the Japan national teams of the past. In his first two years as coach of the National Team, Zico has laid the groundwork with the best win-loss record of any coach in Japan national team history. Nevertheless, many people (the rising Sun News included) have expressed some dissatisfaction at the content of the performances.
Though results are what matter in the final analysis, when you are playing friendlies or minor competitions in Asia, fans naturally are more interested in the quality of play, rather than the final score line. The nature of the victories is what offers the best standard to judge how well Japan might do against top-quality opposition. But at the same time, the first half of a coach's tenure (which nowadays is usually a four-year proposition) is a period when he will spend much of his time getting to know the players, trying our various tactics and putting his imprint on the team. Thus, even though Phillippe Troussier's first two years as head coach were not that impressive in terms of won-lost record, they laid the groundwork for a far better performance over the second two years. Similar things can be said about other past Japan NT coaches, particularly those who were at the helm for a full World Cup cycle, such as Hans Ooft.
Zico Japan registered a very impressive record between late 2002, when Zico took over as head coach, and the end of 2004. However, the overly cautious tactics, rigid player selection and occasionally uninspired play raised questions in many people's minds. Thus, when the curtain lifted and the blue-shirted samurai took the pitch on Saturday evening, everyone in Japan was sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting for a sign that the team has turned the corner, and is ready to make its final sprint . . .
. . . they did not have to wait for very long. With a surge of energetic ball pursuit that has occasionally been lacking, in recent matches, Japan established themselves immediately as the dictators of tempo. For the first few minutes, Kazakhstan were unable to even string together three passes in succession, as the swarming midfield press broke up the flow time and again. Playing the ball quickly to the wing and then swinging passes to the top of the box, Japan made one probing attack . . . then a second . . .
. . . and then, just five minutes after the kickoff, Akira Kaji probed the right wing for a third time. His attempt to turn the corner was broken up, but the clearance from the Kazakh back line was weak, and fell between Mitsuo Ogasawara and Yasuhito Endo about six meters outside the box. The two made eye contact and Oga backed off to let Endo settle the ball. Endo's first touch was a perfect trap, killing the ball's momentum and dropping it softly right at Ogasawara's feet. Ogasawara stepped forward and sent his first touch looping over the defence, and into the penalty box. The Kazakhs were caught unprepared, stranded as the ball looped in to Keiji Tamada. Although Tamada slightly misplayed the ball, chesting it a bit too hard, luck was on his side and it bounded off a defender and right back to his feet. Turning towards goal, he fired a quick shot with the outside of the right foot, which spun into the nylon before the keeper could move a muscle. Japan were up 1-0, and the rout was already well under way.
One problem that Japan faced throughout the past year has been its inability to score early. The longer the team goes without a goal, the more hesitant they become, and the team sinks into a pattern of overly deliberate passing and sluggish movement off the ball. But the minute Tamada's shot hit the net, that attitude of hesitant uncertainty vanished, and the team began to play with enthusiastic fluidity, in what would be one of the most enjoyable performances in recent memory.
Six minutes later, Another beautiful combination of passes shredded the left wing of the Kazakh defence, and Japan won a corner kick. Alex Santos sent a line drive for Yuji Nakazawa at the near post, but he and his defender got entangled and neither one could reach the ball. The ball sank like a texas league single over shortstop, dropping right onto the boots of Naoki Matsuda, two steps inside the box, almost straight away from goal. Matsuda trapped the ball dead at his feet, and though he was in a thick crowd of defenders, he had a half-second of freedom before anyone could close the gap. Matsuda had no time to wind up for a shot, so instead he quickly toed the ball with his right boot, and it spun for the low right corner slipping past the keeper's grasp and giving Japan a 2-0 edge.
Already, the Kazakh team was beginning to crumble. Rather than working the ball around and tryiung to fight their way back into the match, they began resorting to physical pressure, hoping that muscle would be enough to keep down the score line. But in the 24 minute, a farily flagrant foul on Kaji gave Japan a free kick from about 30 meters out, about level with the right edge of the penalty box. The left-footed Santos took the kick. and sent a curling line drive that spun straight for goal, as three tall Antlers players dashed onto it. The keeper coiuld not spot the ball through the melee of bodies, and though none of the Japan players actually managed to get a head to it, the ball's momentum took it right into the net.
With just a tiny bit of luck, they might have extended that lead before half time. Japan had several close call,s including one corner kick on the stroke of halftime that Ogasawara played perfectly onto the head of Takashi Fukinishi. Fukunishi timed his run perfectly, and met the cross with a powerful header, but it hit the keeper square in the chest, and Japan had to settle for a 3-0 halftime advantage.
Japan showed a bit less energy and creativeness in the second half, though one must admit that this was partly due to a series of inexplicable calls by the Korean officiating team, who seemed determined to keep the score as respectable as possible. One excellent scoring chance at the start of the first half was snuffed out when Takayuki Suzuki was flagged offside, though replays showed that he was a good body-length onside when the pass was released. Another certain goal evaporated when Ogasawara was bundled down a good stride inside the penalty area, only for the referee to award the kick outside the box. But on the stroke of the hour, Japan finally put together a play that nobody could withstand. As Japan's attack pushed the ball through midfield, Ogasawara collected a slant pass from Yuki Abe as he pirouetted towards goal, and with his second touch, sent Tamada free into the penalty box with a through pass that shredded the defence like fresh lettuce in a Ronco Dial-o-matic Food Slicer. Tamada measured the keeper, then curled the ball into the right corner to put the cap on a splendid evening.
The hype that has prevailed in the media over the past month -- perhaps understandable when you consider that Japan is about to play a high-stakes World Cup qualifier against the only country in the world for which Japanese citizens feel true animosity -- may have left many football fans wondering if the pressure would be too great. Even though they did prevail under pressure time and again, in 2004, the Japan NT never really came out and stomped on an opponent, with the sort of emphasis needed to demonstrate who was boss. Over the past year we often had the sense that the team was just a bit too cool, too emotionless, and lacking in the killer instinct. Until last night, we were a bit concerned that this lack of emotion might one day come back to haunt the Japan NT.
On Saturday night, we saw a very different team indeed. This group of players may have been calm and composed, but they certainly did not lack the killer instinct. On the contrary, the team as a whole -- and particularly players like Tamada, Santos, Ogasawara, Matsuda and Nakazawa, played like cold-blooded killers, clinical in their precision, deadly in their finishing, and relishing every strike. That is a face that the Japan NT has not shown in quite some time -- perhaps not since the 2002 World Cup. One can only hope that this is a taste of things to come. If the group that took the pitch against Kazakhstan can play with this same sort of intensity in their next friendly, against Syria, then Zico should just leave the European contingent in Europe. The weapons that were on display against Kazakhstan will be more than sufficient to dispatch North Korea.
National Team
Overseas Players
Japan 4 - 0 Kazakhstan 