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National Team Match: |
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Based on the feedback we have received over the past week, it seems that some readers looked askance at our relatively harsh take on Japan's warmup match against Syria. After all, the argument went, it was a comfortable 3-0 victory, and you neednt worry about minor mistakes (such as Takashi Fukunishi being dispossessed deep in his own end, on several occasions) in a "friendly" match.
Hopefully the sceptics are now able to see what has been so obvious to us for months. Japan may have a group of very skillful and remarkably well composed athletes on its national team, but it is sadly lacking in the sort of agressiveness that so many of our opponents in Asia consider second nature. More importantly, there are a number of individual players who, despite having excellent skills from a pureluy technical standpoint, do not possess the match savvy, the intelligence, and the killer instincts required to succeed at the world-class level. Thus, it was no surprise whatsoever to the Rising Sun News when two glaring mistakes by -- who else -- Takashi Fukunishi, allowed North Korea to turn what should have been a very intense and hard-fought but nevertheless comfortable win by Japan into a near disaster.
Not that we are trying to find a scapegoat to take the blame for this close call. The fact is that several players on the squad turned in unsatisfactory performances against North Korea, and none of them did as poorly as the officiating team, who seemed to be trying their level best to provide Japan with the video evidence required to file a formal protest with FIFA. In the second half, in particular, the head referee repeatedly allowed North Korean players to break up Japanese counterattacks with two-armed tackles which might have earned a sin bin booking even if this had been a rugby match!
But Fukinishi has to be singled out because his dangerous habit of dribbling backwards deep in his own end, and allowing opposing players to strip him of the ball. The problem is that this weakness has been evident for quite some time. There is absolutely no reason why Zico should not be aware of the fact by now, and there is certainly no lack of options to replace him. In this contest, he was guilty of exactly the same errors as he committed against Syria, and his blunders gave North Korea both of their most dangerous scoring opportunities. Though the fact that Japan eked out a late victory may ease some of the pressure on Zico, there is no doubt that people will be second-guessing his decision not to call up Junichi Inamoto, who may not have had much time to practice with the team, but who certainly would not make the mistake of handing the ball to an opposing player deep in his own end.
It would be unfair, as well as unkind, not to give North Korea credit for making this a very close match. They played with remarkable intensity and effort, and though their tactic of deliberately pulling down Japanese players any time they created a dangerous counterattack were patently obvious, you certainly cannot blame THEM for using whatever tactics the referees would allow them to get away with. Even so, the disparity in quality was obvious. If only Japan had displayed the intensity of effort needed to produce another goal or two, this match could have been decided much earlier.
Japan started out in excellent form, and Mitsuo Ogasawara put them in an early lead just five minutes after the opening kickoff, on a swerving free kick from about 9 meters above the top left corner of the penalty box. In the subsequent 10 minutes, it looked like Japan might turn this match into a rout, as they came very close on two or three more occasions in the opening 15 minutes. But for reasons which they will have to explain for themselves, the Saudi Arabian officiating team started to act as if it was their duty to ensure that Japan did not build to large a lead. Though you cannot fault the North Korean players for their energy or intensity, they were not particularly skillful in their challenges, and as Japan moved the ball swiftly around in the attacking midfield with one-touch passes, the number of late charges and studs-up collisions began to pile up, though the officials seemed virtually oblivious to this fact. Of course, Japan deserves part of the blame for allowing this to upset their rhythm. A world-class team responds to that sort of chippiness by giving back challenges in twice the number and intensity that they receive. Instead of shying away from the pressure, you have to meet it head on, and with exactly the same degree of calculation. Nobody likes to admit it, but everyone who has played the game knows that one good swift kick in the opposing star player's kneecap will give the referee a clear message to stop playing games and start calling fouls.
Though Japan dominated play for the remainder of the half, they did not come as close to scoring as they did in that opening 15-minutes spurt, and the first of two giveaways by Fukunishi nearly allowed North Korea to equalise just before the break. But keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi bailed Japan out by punching the ball over the crossbar, and Japan took their 1-0 advantage into the locker room.
In the early stages of the second half, Japan began to step up the pressure, looking for the crucial goal which would put North Korea away. Though there were no truly dangerous shots on goal, you could see the pressure building ,and it seemed like just a matter of time before the North Korean defence would finally crack. But on the stroke of the hour, yet another blunder by the loveable Jubilo volante set off a fast break counterattack, completely against the run of play. Ah Yong-Hak made a lovely stutter-step move and released a pass into the left corner for Nam Song-Chol, who turned the corner and angled into the box from the left wing. Both Kawaguchi and the central defenders leaned towards the middle, where three Korean players were dashing forward looking for the cross, but Nam played a lovely low-angle shot for the near post which caught Kawaguchi leaning the wrong way and snuck just inside the post. Suddenly the dynamic of the match was altered completely, and the North Koreans received a huge boost of adrenaline as the dream of claiming a point on Japanese soil seemed within reach.
The response from Japan was impressive,even if it was a bit late. The remaining 28 minutes or so of the match consisted of one continuous barage of probing, penetrating moves and lightning thrusts which challenged the Korean defence time after time. The Koreans hung on desperately, resorting to desperate defensive tacktics which did not even make a pretence of fair play. We will be very interested to see what FIFA thinks of the match tape, since there were four or five two-armed rugby tackles which would have earned a straight red from any "competent" referee, yet in the eyes of the Saudi referee, two of them apparently did not even merit a yellow card.
As time ran down, the pressure built to a crescendo, as Japan bombarded the North Korean defence again and again, yet repeatedly failed to find the mark. Naohiro Takahara had two golden opportunities, one on a deflection from the keeper who fell face down on the turf as the ball bounded to the Hamburg-based striker. But Takahara flailed wildly and sent the ball over the bar. Alex Santos had no better luck on an open look from the top left corner of the box, and Keiji Tamada sent a drive from about the same spot directly into the keeper"s arms.
Finally, Zico played his last trump card, bringing in Gamba Osaka striker Masashi Oguro for what was only his second appearance in a National Team uniform. But then, isnt that the way that fairytale endings are supposed to come out? As the match moved into injury time, Ogasawara brought the ball up the right sideline and lobbed a high cross for defender Yuji Nakazawa, who was pressing into the box on the power play. The keeper reached the ball first, and punched it out to the edge of the box. But the ball dropped right at the feet of Fukunishi, who volleyed it right back into the melee in front of goal. Oguro spun towards the ball, and before a defender could get a foot forward to clear it, hooked a left-footed shot into the low right corner, sending the crowd at Saitama Stadium into an uproar, and driving the TV announcer into hysterics that left him hoarse and hyperventilated. A minute later, the final whistle sounded, and Japan claimed the full three points for victory.
There is absolutely no question that Japan dodged a bullet in this match. Though they may hav outplayed North Korea by a considerable margin from a technical standpoint, or in terms of ball possession, field position, shots on goal, or most any othe statistic, that does not mean that this was an undeserved score line. North Korea certainly did what they needed to do in order to claim a point, and if not for the late heroics by Oguro, they might well have done so.
There are a variety of ways to look at this result, and none of them is entirely optimistic. However, at the end of the day, Japan did claim all three points. Perhaps more importantly, the team got a good scare, and one which they definitely deserve. Despite the tremendous hype that this match against North Korea has received, it is Japan's next match -- the away contest against Iran -- which will be the most important to the team's hopes of progressing to the World Cup. Indeed, our feeling over the past week or so has been one of annoyance, as the press and public hyped the North Korea match to ridiculous extremes. By placing so much emphasis on this contest, Japan risked setting themselves up for a letdown in the match against Iran which will make all the difference to our qualification chances.
From that perspective, a good scare may be exactly what Japan needed. Not only will Zico be under pressure to call up the very best group of players he can put together (meaning that we will see Shinji Ono and Junichi Inamoto in defensive midfield rather than the incompetent Fukunishi and the somewhat lackadaisical Endo), but the players will know that they have to give a 100% effort from start to finish, and cannot "coast" on a one goal lead, as they did in the first half of this contest. If these ARE the ultimate results of Japan's close call against North Korea -- and that is a bit IF -- then perhaps this wasnt such a bad result after all.
National Team
Overseas Players
Japan 2 - 1 North Korea 