National Team Match:

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Japan 4 - 1 Egypt

Date: October 17, 2007 Location: Vietnam Japan 4 2 1H 0 2 2H 2 1 Egypt Yoshito Okubo (20') Yoshito Okubo (42') Ryoichi Maeda (53') Akira Kaji (68') Scoring Abdullah Boh (59') Cautions Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Akira Kaji , Yuji Nakazawa, Yuki Abe, Yuichi Komano, Keita Suzuki (Yasuyuki Konno 72'), Yasuhito Endo (Jungo Fujimoto 74'), Satoru Yamagishi (Hideo Hashimoto 73), Kengo Nakamura, Yoshito Okubo, Ryoichi Maeda TBA

In Japan's final National Team match of 2007, we had a chance to see what domestic-based players are capable of doing when they set their minds to it. The score line of this match does flatter Japan, but only by a small amount. Indeed, it might have been an even more emphatic victory if only coach Osim had decided to field a full squad of eleven international-quality players, rather than just ten. And though the Egyptian squad was only a bare-bones replica of the team that won the last African Nations Cup, there was no question that this was one of the best performances the Samurai Blue have turned in since Osim took over.

Yet even this impressive performance left us with a sense of minor disappointment, and based on Osim's post-match comments he was less than ecstatic as well. But in his case, the only person he can blame is himself. After more than a year of testing and tinkering, surely he has had plenty of opportunities to determine which players are capable of cutting it at the international level and which are not. We have to admit that some of the players that have disappointed us in the past turned in solid, competent performances on Wednesday night. There was only one exception, and nobody who saw even breif highlights of this contest will need the Rising Sun News to tell them which player THAT was.

Satoru Yamagishi spent an entire evening looking for all the world like the school weakling, trying to get his knapsack back from a bunch of older boys, who are playing keep-away. Every single time the ball came near him he seemed to be moving in the wrong direction -- a step too slow or a stride too late to actually make a meaningful play. In the final analysis, his one and ONLY contribution to this match came at the hour mark, when a ball bounded towards him near the edge of his own penalty area. Though he did not seem to be under that much pressure, he spazzed out and swung his arms wildly, making contact with the ball and conceding a free kick to Egypt just a meter outside the box and straight out from the right post. Not surprisingly, Egypt scored from this set play, and claimed their only goal of the contest.

Though Osim left the hapless JEF United midfielder on the pitch for another 15 minutes, when he was finally replaced Hideo Hashimoto managed to contribute more to Japan's offensive flow in his first three minutes on the pitch than Yamagishi did in 75. It would be nice to think that this horrendous performance will finally put the last nail in Yamagisahi's coffin, and Osim will never consider calling him to the National Team again. But then, that would make too much sense.

Thankfully, on this occasion Yamagishi was the only player on the pitch who clearly did not belong. We did have the sense that Ryoichi Maeda needs time to develop confidence before he can make a real quality contribution, and there are a few other players who have not convinced us that they are the best candidates available, at their position. But all in all, everyone but Yamagishi deserved passing marks in this contest, and a few put on truly impressive performances that just might mark a turning point in their national team careers.

Nobody deserves more superlatives than Yoshito Okubo, who finally broke his National Team jinx and played the sort of match that we have been waiting to see from him for years.. The Vissel Kobe striker was easily the man of the match. He seemed to be everywhere on the pitch, not only rampaging through the Egyptian defence, but also chasing back on defence, and making superb contributions to the buildup when he wasnt at the point of attack, himself. Yuji Nkazawa and Keita Suzuki were also superb, in this match. But then, both have established themselves as Osim's most consistent and dependably effective players for over a year. Okubo's dynamic and supremely confident play, coupled with some good build-up from the two wingbacks, midfielder Kengo Nakamura and Okubo's strike partner Ryoichi Maeda, shredded the Egypt defence time after time. If only Maeda had shown as much finishing precision as Okubo, this match could have been a complete blowout.

Japan got off to the early lead in the 20 minute on a play that showcased Okubo's sharpness. Maeda headed down a looping cross to the edge of the box, dropping the ball back to Okubo at around the top of the penalty arc. Okubo had to turn away from goal to collect the ball, but with a deft first touch and a quick pivot he turned past his defender and without even an instant's hesitation, fired a powerful shot that ripped into the top right corner -- his first goal in a national team uniform, after 21 previous ineffective efforts.

Over the next 15 minutes, Maeda had two chances to extend the lead, but both times an instant of hesitation allowed the Egyptian keeper to get off his line, and make the stop. In both cases, though, it took fine work from the goalkeeper to keep the ball out of the net, and as Maeda gains, confidence, one certainly hopes that he will be able to overcome the hesitation that allowed the keeper to make these two stops.

Okubo closed out the second half with his second goal of the match, and of his NT career, on a header at the right post. Japan won a corner kick, and though Yasuhito Endo's first delivery was poorly struck, he retreived the ball and sent the second attempt right to Okybo, leaping between two defenders.

Eight minutes after the break, Maeda finally managed to finish off one of his slashing runs, exchanging a one-two pass with Akira Kaji as he broke down the right channel. Kaji's return pass sent Maeda through into an uncluttered penalty box, and this time he wasted no time in slamming the ball low and hard, to beat the outrushing keeper.

But just as it seemed that all of the momentum was going in Jaqpan's direction, Yamagishi suffered his epileptic fit at the edge of the Japan penalty box and allowed Egypt to pull a goal back. This turned the tide for a while, and it was ten minutes before Japan managed to get their offensive rhythm back. In the 68 minute, Yuichi Komano surged into the left corner and sent a long cross to the opposite corner of the penalty box, for a completely unmarked Akira Kaji. Kaji rumbled in from the right sideline and sent a low line drive across the face of coal and into the left corner, to finish off the scoring. At this point, Osim finally pulled Yamagishi, as well as Endo and Suzuki, replacing them with Hashimoto, Yasuyuki Konno and Jungo Fujimoto. Although Fujimoto's play left something to be desired, Hashimoto was clearly more effective in the buildup than Yamagishi had been, and Konno contributed well on the left flank. Several times over the final 15 minutes Okubo and Maeda had chances to extend the lead, but their tiring legs prevented them from finishing off the counterattacks effectively. All the same, it was a solid performance from just about everyone on the Japan side, with only one glaring exception.

So, Mr. Osim . . . are you ready to stop making excuses for your pet favourites? If so, then perhaps 2008 will be the year that the Japan National Team FINALLY advances into a truly world-class level of football. But that can only happen if Japan has 11 competent players on the pitch. Despite what the score of this match might indicate, the truth is that ten good players and one coach's pet simply isnt sufficient to do the job.