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National Team Match: |
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Just two weeks ago, we were calling for Zico to be replaced, and The Rising Sun News was hardly the only voice singing that tune. This evening, the mainstream sports media are throwing him bouquets and kisses. We certainly are not going to go THAT far, but we will admit that the national team coach responded reasonably well to the adversity, and inspired his players to the results they needed to claim a ticket to Germany 2006.
The joy (and relief) of success tastes sweet, and it is probably not fair to throw a bunch of sour lemons into the party puchbowl at a time like this. However, before we join the celebrations, we do want to make a few cautionary observations. First, considering the importance of this match, Japan looked extremely lackadaisical, especially in the first half. That could be partly a reflection of the hot, muggy weather, and perhaps partly a conscious strategy as well. Japan needed only a draw to clinch a spot in Germany, and in the first half they seemed to be playing with the philosophy that if they could snatch an early goal, fine, but the important thing was to remain fresh enough to match North Korea in intensity down the stretch. Even taking these factors into account, however, we were disappointed to see players standing around, a lot, when Japan had the ball. They played in much the same way against Peru and the UAE, and were made to pay for their lack of intensity.
Second, it was VERY disappointing to see Zico start the match with a very traditional 3-5-2 lineup. You would think, considering the success Japan had with a 3-4-3 lineup against Bahrain, that Zico would stick with this strategy and see if it continued to work effectively in addressing the lack of offence. But with Hidetoshi Nakata, Shunsuke Nakamura and Alex Santos all sitting out the match due to accumulated yellow cards, he opted to go with a very conservative formation and an even more conservative strategy, at least in the first half. Takayuki Suzuki and Atsushi Yanagisawa started up front, with Mitsuo Ogasawara as the fantasista in midfield and Koji Nakata on the left wing. Perhaps Zico was hoping that this "Antlers-centered" alignment would have enough chemistry to overcome the perpetual problem that Japan has had trying to create penetration with a two-striker alignment.
Unfortunately, it clearly did not work. Yanagisawa looked very effective moving off the ball and looking for space, and actually Suzuki did not do THAT bad a job in the post. The problem was that Ogasawara was playing too deep in the formation to really be effective with his quick, pinpoint feeds, and Junichi Inamoto -- unlike Hide Nakata on Friday night against Bahrain -- was not sliding forward to assist Ogasawara with the playmaking responsibilities. Furthermore, though Koji Nakata was rock-solid on the defensive end, he certainly did not contribute on offence the way that Santos typically does. Akira Kaji, on the opposite wing, was just as hesitant to press forward into the attack. The result was that Japan dominated possession, and never even had to sweat in their defensive zone, but they had no luck breaking through the North Korean defence. There were two early chances, over the opening 10 minutes, befoer the North Koreans got settled, but once those opportunities slipped by, Japan's only real scoring opportunities came from set plays.
Fortunately, Zico seemed to realise the error of his ways at half time, and brought in Oguro for Suzuki at half time. Though the formation was nominally still a 3-5-2, the mobility of the three central offensive players (Oguro, Yanagisawa and Ogasawara) kept the front line fluid, and in motion. From the moment Oguro took the field, Japan began to find openings in the Korean defence, and if only Inamoto and/or Takashi Fukinishi had pushed forward in support, Japan might have scored sooner than they did. Although we are often highly critical of Fukunishi (and he deserves it), in this match we were even more disappointed with the play of Inamoto. Having seen him in action for a full 90 minutes, we are no longer as disappointed in Zico's decision to leave him on the bench, until now. His ball skills are certainly not a problem, and he has the physical toughness and awareness that one would expect of a player with Premiership experience. However, he looked woefully out of shape, slow, and lacking in stamina. Early in the second half, Ogasawara fired a perfect lead pass down the left flank, which just about any other player on the squad (except possibly the decrepit Tanaka) would have caught up with easily. Inamoto stopped chasing after four or five steps. prompting an angry tirade from Zico that was clearly audible in the nearly-empty stadium. One hopes that this is just a matter of conditioning, and that Inamoto will return to his previous form, in time. However, it is now clear why Zico has not been starting him in Japan's recent matches.
Though Japan continued to play a bit too cautiously for our tastes, it was nevertheless apparent, once Oguro joined Yanagisawa and Ogasawara in the attacking zone, that the opening goal was just a matter of time. Therefore it is no surprise that these three players were all involved in the action when the goal finally did arrive. In the 73 minute, Mitsuo Ogasawara was taken down hard by a Korean player, and he took a quick free kick sending the ball to Kaji, on the right sideline. One of North Korea's center backs moved out of the penalty area to ensure that Kaji had no path towards goal, but this left Oguro, isolated one-on-one, in the box. As the defence came to him, Kaji dropped the ball immediately back to Ogasawara, who lofted a ball for Oguro. The Gamba Osaka striker was beaten in the air, but he put enough pressure on the Korean defender that all he could do was knock it into space, at the top of the box. Yanagisawa, whose quick reaction to the ball has always been a strength, dashed forward and met the ball just beyond and to the right of the penalty spot. He drilled a sizzling half-volley towards the low left corner which the keeper had no chance to reach, and Japan had the lead at last. .
Once they went down by a goal, North Korea threw every ounce of intensity they had left into the desperate quest for an equaliser. However, on this particular occasion, the officiating team was not some group of AFC rent-a-refs, but a truly competent team of experienced officials from Belgium. Though they certainly did not seem inclined to give Japan "the benefit of the doubt", it was nevertheless a joy and a pleasure to watch a match where every obvious foul got called (on both ends), and where there were no glaring mistakes or inconsistencies. In fact, this was the first time in over a year (since Japan's last match against European opposition, in a trip to Manchester last year) that we could just enjoy the match, and not constantly wonder of what sort of drugs the referees had been taking.
With a group of competent officials in charge, North Korea's blitzkreig-style behaviour after they went down a goal served only to dig them into a deeper hole. The yellow cards quickly piled up, and Japan were able to take a series of free kicks from favourable field position which kept North Korea pinned back deep in their own end. With four minutes to go, Japan nearly put the contest to bed, as a quick free kick and a lovely through pass by Ogasawara sent Oguro into the box. But his blistering shot was tipped just over the bar in a desperate lunge by the North Korean keeper.
North Korea cleared the subsequent corner kick, and threw themselves forward for one last desperate attempt to equalise. But Makoto Tanaka anticipated a lead pass just on the Japan side of midfield, stepped into the passing lane and send an immediate looping ball behind the drawn-forward Korean defence. Oguro read the situation perfectly, reacting to Tanaka's incerception and dashing into the clear to collect the ball without a single North Korean defender in the same area code. Oguro had only to fake the keeper onto his knees, step to his left, and then roll the ball into an empty net. By the time his teammates arrived to congratulate him, Japanese travel agencies were already jamming the phone lines to begin reserving hotel space at top German hotels, for June 2006.
Sadly, the match ended on a nasty note, as Korea made a final foray towards the Japan penalty box, and rather than allow a defender to clear the ball, Kim Yong-Su threw himself feet first into two opponents, knocking both Makoto Tanaka and Tsuneyasu Miyamoto to the ground. As Tanaka tried to regain his feet, Kim made a deliberate attempt to stomp on Tanaka's thigh, prompting Yuji Nakazawa to jump in, grab Kim by the scruff of the jersey and toss him halfway across the pitch. Fortunately, as noted earlier, there was a competent officiating crew in charge, and before any more extracurricular activities could take place, the Belgian referee seized Kim by the throat and brandished a red card in his face, putting a quick end to the altercation. Then again . . . one can only imagine what might have been the result if the same thing had happened in Pyongyang. In retrospect, FIFA will no doubt be congratulating themselves for a smart decision, in moving the match to a neutral venue. We can only hope that this signals a change in policy, and that FIFA will take a more active interest in the AFC's officiating activities in the future. Now that we have seen what a difference it makes to have competent referees in charge, we only wish that UEFA referees could be assigned to ALL of Japan's future matches in the Asian region.
And so, Japan becomes only the second team in the world to claim a ticket to Germany 2006 (the first being the hosts themselves). While this result will surely have the sports tabloids dusting off their most extravagant hyperbole, in praies of their heroes, we have to point out that this is not the finish line; the result they achieved today only marks the beginning of the challenge that Zico Japan faces. We will be watching closely to see if the team is able to carry the positive momentum into the Confederations Cup, later this month.
National Team
Overseas Players
Japan 2 - 0 North Korea 