National Team Match:

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Japan 0 - 0 (3-4PK) Austria

Date: September 7, 2007 Location: Austria Japan 0 1 1H 0 1 2H 0 0 Austria Scoring Cautions Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Akira Kaji , Yuji Nakazawa, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Yuichi Komano (Yasuyuki Konno 89'), Keita Suzuki, Junichi Inamoto (Kengo Nakamura 71), Yasuhito Endo , Shunsuke Nakamura, Tatsuya Tanaka (Daisuke Matsui 71'), Kisho Yano (Seiichiro Maki 74') TBA

After Japan had outplayed the hosts in this match comprehensively, from start to finish of this contest, it seems a bit odd to have to report that they "lost" the match to Austria. The strange set-up of this "tournament" involving Austria and Switzerland -- the two hosts of Euro2008 -- dictates that all matches go to PKs if a winner is not decided within 90 minutes. And considering how totally one-sided the final 20 minutes of this contest were, one wonders if perhaps Austria were deliberately packing their box for the final stages of the contest, with the aim of making it to a PK shootout.

But while a PK shootout in a "friendly" match may leave viewers scratching their heads, in one sense there may be some benefits in this result. Once again, it teaches Osim Japan the risks you face if you fail to put an opponent away when you have the chance. Japan discovered at the Asian Cup that unless they finish off their opportunities in regulation time, they may pay for it. Perhaps another lesson is just what they need.

Nevertheless, one should not look at the official "result" of this match (a loss) as anything more than a technicality. Japan certainly demonstrated to the crowd at Klagenfurt Stadium which was the better of the two teams. Following the early surge of pressure by the home team at the start of the match -- a five minute spell which produced Austria's only shot on goal of the first half -- Japan settled down to a smooth and effective passing game which had the home crowd in a rage for most of the first half, and a sullen silence for most of the second. Though Japan may have been unable to score, they at least looked sharper and more dangerous than they did in their final Asian Cup match (which also ended in a scoreless draw and a PK loss). If the linesman had not incorrectly flagged Tatsuya Tanaka offside midway through the first half, or if Tanaka's shot on the rebound from a free kick had hit five milimeters lower on the crossbar, Japan would have taken a first-half lead, and the dynimic of the contest would have been very different indeed.

But those things did NOT happen, and that leaves us with no choice but to examine a few areas where Japan is still just a bit lacking. In general, Osim's player selection is improving, though he still insists on playing Yuichi Komano out of position, on the left. The frustration that Komano feels when trying to cross with his "wrong" foot" is almost palpable, and though Akira Kaji may have put in a reasonably good performance in this match, we stil cannot understand why Osim insists on trying to force Komano into a position where he is not comfortable. In this match, Komano opted to cut inside on all but one or two occasions, and this meant that there were fewer glaring examples ofineffective crossing. However, anyone who has seen the Sanfrecce right wing's precision delivery to Ueslei and Hisato Sato, in the J.League, knows that one of his main gifts is being wasted by playing him out of position.

As we mentioned, Kaji did have a decent outing against Austria, though he was guilty of a woeful cross-field pass, deep in his own end, that created one of Austria's two most dangerous scoring opportunities in the entire match. (the other chance came on a blunder by Inamoto, as we will discuss in a moment). There is no question that Kaji has improved a great deal since the days, under Zico, when we used to rail at length about his ineffectual play. If he were seeing occasional duty as a substitute for Komano, we would have no complaints at all. He certainly is not a weak link on defence, anymore, and he created quite a bit of danger on the overlap. But when a better player is clearly available, it is very hard to understand why Osim persists on using him as the starter.

We have expressed our reservations about Yasuhito Endo so many times in the past that it is hardly worth discussing at any length. Endo once again had a solid, competent and error-free performance. His work with Nakamura in building the attack was crisp and efficient, and he had two chances to score -- once on a free kick that the Austrian keeper just barely kept out of the low right corner, and once on a long-range blast following a drop pas by Tatsuya Tanaka. But Endo's (and Nakamura's) lack of pace continues to be a shortcoming. on two occasions Endo broke into the clear, and a speedier player might have taken the ball in on goal for a shot. But both times he was forced to pull the ball back after being overtaken by a defender. We have said this several times in the past and it still applies: The two Nakamuras and Endo are all very good at working the ball forward, and one (or at the most, two) such player is essential for the balance of the attack. But when three such players are all in midfield at the same time (in this match, Endo and Shunsuke were joined by the even MORE stationary Junichi Inamoto), Japan's attack loses the element of speed and acceleration that is essential if you want to penetrate a determined defensive line.

That brings us to Inamoto, who definitely played a much better match than he did in his breif appearance prior to the Asian Cup. He provides a level of ferocity and physicality in deep midfield that few other Japanese midfielders can offer, and it is essential to have a player like him around in case (god forbid) something should happen to Keita Suzuki. Nevertheless, he was clearly a step slower than even Endo, when going forward, and though his defence was effective for most of the match, he did commit two serious errors over the 70 minutes he spend on the pitch. One was a weak back pass that an Austrian player intercepted, producing a potentially dangerous counterattack; the second was an overzealous charge a few meters outside the box, which produced a free kick in a dangerous spot. Allowing for his lack of time to develop chemistry with the rest of the team, his performance was pretty solid, but again, his lack of speed becomes a liability if the other players in midfield are also relatively slow.

Our greatest disappointment was the fact that when Osim did bring in Daisuke Matsui, he inserted him as a shadow striker, taking the place of Tatsuya Tanaka. Tatsuya had an excellent match, and produced Japan's two most dangerous chances (one a shot that hit the crossbar and bounded just a bit too far for another Japanese player to stuff home). Matsui also ran hard, found lots of space, and had some good touches, and we would have been very interested to see what might have happened if both of these players had been in the lineup at the same time. At least in this writer's view, it would have made much more sense to replace Endo, Inamoto, or even Nakamura with Matsui, since this might have addressed the lack of speed in midfield that seemed to hold Japan back.

The defensive unit of Nakazawa, Kawaguchi and Tulio was beyond reproach, preventing Austria from getting any truly dangerous scoring chances for the full 90 minutes. Though the midfield deserves a share of the credit for keeping Austria at bay, the back line never showed even the slightest hint of weakness. About the only criticism that we could even consider is the fact that Tulio did not really have any chances to get forward. However, considering the speed that Austria showed on the few counterattacks that they did create, it was probably for the best that he didnt try anything too risky.

Last, and certainly least, we come to Kisho Yano. Although the Albirex Niigata striker ran hard, and tried to get involved as much as possible, he was almost invisible in this match. The only real value he created was in keeping the central defenders occupied, and thus allowing the midfield to work the ball around with more space. But Yano definitely does not show either the sort of physical strength nor the quickness required to get involved in the attack, at such a high level of play. Critics of Seiichiro Maki will have to concede that Maki was at least as effective as Yano in his few brief minutes on the pitch. But what Japan really needed was a player like Takahara, or even Sota Hirayama, to create a bit more trouble for the opposing defence.

All in all, it was a decent outing for Japan, and as we noted at the top, the disappointment of a lost PK shootout can almost be seen as a positive factor, since it will encourage the Japanese players to win their matches in regulation time, rather than letting them reach the stage of PK russian roulette.