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National Team Match: |
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As we have already noted many times in our match reports on the contests against North Korea and against China, this East Asian Championship tournament has been nothing short of a farce. Of course, with both Japan and Korea fielding second (or third) string teams, and even China at well below "full strength" it was bound to be a less than stirring tournament. But while these three matches did offer Zico an opportunity to give some young and promising players a chance to show their stuff, in our view the entire event has been a waste of time and effort. Certainly Urawa Reds coach Guido Buchwald is going to see it in that light, since both Tatsuya Tanaka and Keisuke Tsuboi picked up injuries, the latter after being deliberately kicked on two SEPARATE occasions by a Korean striker on fouls that everyone in the stadium EXCEPT the referee seemed to see.
And then there were the two obvious PK offences which were committed on Japanese players but not called. Oh, and lets not forget the goal that Japan scored in the first half, only to have the whistle blow and the goal disallowed for . . . . . well . . . Im really not sure, to tell the truth. A Korean defender grabbed hold of Seiichiro Maki's shirt and pulled him to the ground to prevent him from going for a high lob pass into the box, but the ball bounded off Maki's leg anyway, deflected to Yuki Abe and the JEF United midfielder drove it into the net. I wonder if even the referee knows what he called, and why the goal was disallowed.
With three minutes left in the match, Japan won a corner kick on the right side, and Mitsuo Ogasawara sent in a line-drive cross. As Maki tried to leap for the ball, once again a Korean player pulled him by the shirt and sent him flying head over heels. Naturally the referee ignored the foul, but in a stroke of fortune that he failed to anticipate, Yuji Nakazawa slipped in behind the play and volleyed the ball into the net. Though he had been blowing the whistle every time Japan even came close to getting the ball into the Korean penalty area throughout the match, this time he was caught off guard, and by the time he realised what was happening it was too late to call anything without providing a bit of highlight footage that even the see-no-evil, hear-no-evil and speak-no-evil monkeys at the AFC headquarters would have had difficulty ignoring.
You have to give him credit, though, he did make a very concerted effort to help Korea equalise over the final five minutes, awarding free kicks and throw-ins regardless of how ridiculous they might have appeared. Unfortunately that wasnt enough, and Japan held on till the final whistle to claim the victory.
This entire tournament has to rank as one of the greatest farces ever perpetrated in international football, and if anyone at the AFC headquarters is reading this, prepare yourselves folks . . . an edited highlight reel of all the outrageous calls in this tournament will soon be on its way to the offices of FIFA, with a request that they examine the footage and decide if AFC referees might not need some "assistance" in refereeing future matches.
Incidentally, lest anyone take these comments as sour grapes, or think that the Rising Sun News sees only the calls that go against Japan, we should note that one of the worst matches of the entire tournament was the one between North Korea and China, which decided the tournament winner (in China's favour). Some of the fouls that the Chinese players were getting away with were simply not to be believed, as North Korea fought valiantly for a second-half equaliser after going down 1-0 at half time. There was one case in which a Chinese player threw himself cleats first into a North Korean midfielder's groin, nearly disembowling him in the process. His boot was at waist height and the cleats pointed straight at the opponent, and both were moving at full speed. Yet the referee seemed to need to think about the matter for almost ten seconds before FINALLY (after half the North Korean team started trotting in his direction with malice in their eyes) deciding to pull out a card . . . . a yellow. I cant wait to hear what the folks at FIFA think about THAT call. China eventually won the match, and the tournament, but considering the circumstances (three players sent off against Korea, a second-half collapse against Japan, and a dirty and referee-assisted win over North Korea), it isnt a trophy that they can carry home with any real pride.
This entire tournament has been one giant joke. If this is what passes for "sportsmanship" and "fair play" in East Asia, maybe its time for Japan to think about joining a less corrupt confederation. Until the sort of foolishness that we have reported over the past week is eliminated, Japan would be better off avoiding these tournaments altogether.
I wonder if Oceania would accept us?
National Team
Overseas Players
Japan 1 - 0 Korea 