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National Team Match: |
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About the only thing we can say is . . . . its about time.
Japan has been playing listless, lifeless, gutless, uninspired and indifferent football for at least the past year, and yet somehow they have managed to keep winning the contests that they ought to win. It was high time they got a good kick in the teeth from a less technically impressive but more energetic and uncompromising opponent. Despite outplaying their guests for 90 minutes, including a degree of dominance in the second half that one would have difficulty imagining against a South American opponent, Japan allowed a late counterattaking break in the third minute of extra time that keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi completely misplayed, and in with their third shot on net in the entire match, Peru claimed wthe winning goal, sending the huge crowd in Niigata Stadium into an uproar of hooting and whistling that Japan richly deserved.
In the face of fierce and justifiable criticism from the press, Zico refused to start Masashi Oguro in this match despite his impressive results in the J.League and a sterling performance in a practice match on Saturday. Instead, he started the match with Takayuki Suzuki and Keiji Tamada up front, and the woefully incompetent Jubilo Iwata group of Takashi Fukunishi on the right defensive midfield, Makoto Tanaka holding down the right side back duties and Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi in net.
When he took over as head coach, Zico insisted that he would always base his player selections on actual match performance, and not who a player is or what team they play for. If that were the case, why on earth would Tamada -- scoreless in 11 matches for 17th place Kashiwa Reysol -- be starting rather than Oguro, the league leader in goals this season?
For that matter, why would you choose to fill out your defence with three aging Jubilo Iwata players who have not only been at the heart of that team's atrocious start to the 2005 season, but two of whom are both on the brink of losing their jobs to 20-year-old upstarts? Are you trying to tell me that these players' actual performance in game situations was REALLY the basis for their selection? Sorry, but that is pure bloody bosh!
But far more important than the questionable player selection was the utte lack of inspiration, energy and intensity in the team. Japan played quite well, in actual fact. Their technical skill both on offence and defence visibly outshone that of their opponents, and once Oguro and Junichi Inamoto took over for Tamada and Fukunishi, it was all Peru could do to keep the match scoreless. But even when they were dominating posession and offensive opportunities, it seemed like the Japanese players were just going through the motions. None of them put in the extra spurt of speed to catch up with a loose ball, none of them showed the slightest hint of anger or emotion when Peru defenders repeatedly pulled them down in professional fouls.
By the 75 minute, Japan had established such complete dominance that the only time the ball was going into Japan's end of the field was when the Japanese players swung the ball back through their defenders, to shift their attack to the opposite side of the field. Yet despite some close calls, Japan simply didnt have the intensity or finishing prowess to finish off its opportunities. Several players put in decent performances -- particularly Alex Santos, Atsuhiro Miura, Mitsuo Ogasawara and Oguro. However, even these players often seemed to be just "going through the motions", without any real desire or determination.
Then, in the third minute of injury time, Japan pushed forward a bit too aggressively in the effort to produce the winning tally, and Peru got a sudden counterattack. Tanaka had an opportunity to cut off the break if he had just pulled his opponent down as the break crossed midfield. Of course he would have earned a card -- possibly even a red -- but if that isnt the REASON why he is in the lineup in the first place, we havent any clue to why he is. It certainly isnt for his speed, since the Peruvian wing quickly left him in the dust as he dashed down the left sideline. As he moved into the clear, he fired a pass for the near side of the box,. where reserve striker Vasallo was cutting for goal. Keisuke Tsuboi had a fairly good angle to screen him away from goal, and if Kawaguchi had just stayed on his line he might have had a fairly easy save, as Vasallo would have been forced to pull the ball on net from a sharp angle, and against Tsuboi's challenge no less. But instead, Kawaguchi raced rashly out of net, dove to the ground at Vasallo's feet, and missed the ball completely as the Peruvian striker flicked a soft bounder ober his prostrate body and into the far side of the net.
In some ways, it is a shame that Japan lost this match, since they certainly played well enough to deserve the win. But the malaise that has affected Zico Japan for the past year or so is not going to go away without some dramatic changes in both personnel and, more importantly, attitude. Though his won-lost record suggests that he mustt be doing something right, there can be no question that one thing Zico has NOT been able to do is give his players inspiration. They play like a bunch of bored prima donnas, and one suspects that this is exactly what they are.
Japan plays its last warmup contest on Friday, May 27, against the UAE. The way things are going, the best thing that could happen would be for Japan to get their backsides paddled by the Arabian club, who were vbery unlucky to be knocked out of the first qualifying round by Japan, in consecutive 1-0 losses. Knowing Zico, even THAT wouldnt get him to change his dull, uninventive and play-it-safe tactics and player selections. But at least there is an outside chance that he might be forced to give it a second thought.
Our general stance on the Japan NT has not changed one bit as a result of this loss; on the contrary, we may be starting to sound a bit like a broken record. At the end of the day, if Japan's players cant dig down and find the motivation, self-respect, and testicular intensity to give a full emotional effort to every match they play in the cobalt blue NT uniform, they should at least have the decency to step aside and make way for someone who is actually willing to give the full effort. After three years of watching the national team do "just enough to get by", I think I speak for most Japanese fans when I say that I no longer care whether the team wins or loses, as long as they start to play football with a bit of pride and feeling. What is the point of earning a spot in the 2006 World Cup, if the only real purpose is to let the entire world (rather than just Asia) see what a bunch of limp-wristed girly-men this country has managed to produce? Travesties like this one makes us nostalgic for the days when Japan got kicked around the stadium for 90 minutes by just about any world class opponent they faced -- but never once, under any circumstances, failed to pour out every drop of sweat, blood and desire they had left in their bodies, before the final whistle sounded.
Those were the days indeed . . . .
National Team
Overseas Players
Japan 0 - 1 Peru 