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 National Team Match:
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No excuses.
Any time that a team allows itself be out-hustled by inferior opposition twice in the same week, its time for heads to roll.
In the closing seconds of the first half of Japan's match against the UAE, Takayuki Suzuki collected a ball at midfield and began looking around for a player to pass to. Three other Japanese players were in the camera frame . . . Takashi Fukunishi, Shinji Ono and Alex Santos. All three of them just stood there, waiting to see what Suzuki would do. Not one of them could be bothered to even take two or three half-hearted steps to try to get open. They just stood there!!!!
Early in the second half, Japan took a free kick from the right corner. The ball was cleared by the defence, but Mitsuo Ogasawara settled it and tried to chip it back into the box for Akira Kaji, who had open space in front of him. But both Suzuki and Fukunishi were still standing in the 18-yard box, picking their butts, and were caught offside by the retreating defence.
When I was in university, our coach (a strict German taskmaster who insisted on a full effort from all his players) used to have a punishment for players who were caught standing around when our team had the ball, or who were caught offside by a retreating defence on set plays. The offending player had to spend the next day of practice "running the stadium". Up one flight of stairs to the top of the grandstand, along the top aisle, then down the stairs to the bottom . . . along the bottom aisle, and then back up again. Ninety minutes, up and down. Up and down. Up and down. . . . If you stopped running, you were off the team. No exceptions. No excuses.
Whatever else you might want to say about Zico, positive or negative, nobody in their right mind could claim that he is strict with his players, stimulates them to play with passion, or challenges them to give a "110% effort" in every match. The results of this laid-back, hands-off approach are plain to see. Japan has just been handed two consecutive 1-0 losses buy teams that dont even rank in the TOP FIFTY of FIFA's world rankings! And in both cases, the reasons for the loss were painfully obvious -- poor player selection and lack of competitive intensity.
For the second match in a row, Zico started the habitually lazy and defensively dodgy Takashi Fukunishi and Makoto Tanaka, and for the second match in a row they actually stood and WATCHED as opposing players took shots, rather than making even the slightest effort to throw their body in front of the ball. It almost looked like they were afraid to get their uniforms dirty!
For the second match in a row, Zico started Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi in net, and for the second match in a row, he allowed a soft goal due to poor positioning. Considering the fact that he has already allowed 14 goals in the J.League, this season (many of them soft goals), exactly what else did Zico expect?
In the match against Peru, as soon as Junichi Inamoto came on to replace Fukunishi, Japan's attacks began to make more headway. Yet in this match, Zico not only started Fukunishi rather than Inamoto, but he stuck with him until the 83 minute! Sure enough, as soon as Inamoto set foot on the pitch, Japan's attacks began to intensify. But by then it was a bit too late.
For the second match in a row, Japan's players were beaten to every single 50 : 50 ball. Not once did any one of them go in for a hard tackle, or put on a burst of speed to try to win a ball from the opponent. And as if to set an example for his charges to follow, Zico just stood there silently watching, with a disappointed look on his face. And you wonder why the players dont show any fire and intensity?
Enough! After two consecutive losses . . . . at home . . . to unfancied AND UNDERSTRENGTH opponents (three of the UAE's star players remained at home due to Asian Champions League commitments), Zico Japan has achieved an improbable feat: the worst record in a Kirin Cup tournament since the tournament was inaugurated, in 1993. Thats right . . . . in twelve years of Kirin Cup history, Japan has NEVER come out of the tournament without earning a single point.
As the saying goes: it doesn't matter how much lipstick, eyeshadow and perfume you put on a pig . . . it's still a pig. The Japan national team has now recorded two consecutive losses which can only be attributed to poor planning, poor player selection, and a complete and utter lack of competitive spirit and the desire to win. I dont care how you dress it up, and how much perfume you may put on it . . . the condition of the national team right now stinks! Its time to stop wasting money on lipstick, and just get rid of the bloody pig.
National Team
Overseas Players
Japan 0 - 1 UAE 