National Team Match:

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Japan 1 - 1 Qatar

Date: July 9, 2007 Location: Vietnam Japan 1 0 1H 0 1 2H 1 1 Qatar Naohiro Takahara (61') Scoring Sebastien (88') Yuki Abe Cautions Meshad Al-Jamahri Sent off Yaser Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Akira Kaji, Yuji Nakazawa, Yuki Abe, Yasuyuki Konno, Keita Suzuki, Kengo Nakamura (Hideo Hashimoto), Shunsuke Nakamura, Yasuhito Endo, Satoru Yamagishi (Naotake Hanyu 74), Naohiro Takahara TBA

Japan got exactly what they deserved in their opening match of the Asian Cup. Oh sure, you could argue that the Australian ref must have been seeing flying monkeys when he awarded Qatar a free kick on the edge of the penalty box, in the 88 minute (a Qatari player ran headlong into the back of Yuki Abe and then threw himself dramatically through the air . . . if the ref really thought it was a foul, Ive got some nice hillside property in southern Kyushu to sell him). But the late equaliser was only what the team deserved, after failing to put the match out of reach when they had an open invitation to do so. If you let a weaker opponent hang around simply because youre too lazy to put them away, you deserve to have a call like that go against you.

After 45 minutes of dominating posession but rarely even moving the ball within ten meters of the Qatar penalty box, Japan FINALLY started making a half-effort to score following the restart, and in just 16 minutes they had the goal they had been seeking. Shunsuke Nakamura sent a pass into the left corner for Yasuyuki Konno, overlapping from his defensive position. Konno crossed for Takahara and Takahara snatched it home with the left boot.

At this point, Qatar lost all semblance of life whatsoever, and if Japan had just made a modest effort to press home the advantage, there is little question that they could have added to the resout. But instead, they began playing the ball back into their own end -- back pass after back pass, with not even the slightest hint that they wanted to try to score another goal, despite the fact that the opposition was a spent force.

But with less than 10 minutes to go, Osim made the most inexplicable substitution ever, bringing on Hideo Hashimoto, a player who has never seen action for Japan before. Hashimoto touched the ball dexactly twice, and the second time was a gift that sent Qatar off on a sudden break. However, the lead pass was too long, and Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi was sure to collect the ball in plenty of time. But Qatar's ace diver, Sebastien, threw himself headlong into Abe's back, and was rewarded by the referee with a free kick one step outside the box, straight out from the penalty spot. The kick slipped through the wall and beat Kawaguchi, giving Qatar a draw.

Several things are worth considering. One is the fact that Yuichi Komano did not play in this match, due to an injury picked up in practice yesterday. Although we think the loss of players like Tulio Tanaka and Ryuji Bando was not THAT serious, it is hard to overestimate the value that Komano provides to this team. Akira Kaji was hopeless as his replacement on the right wing.

Second, the attitude of Japan's players after they took the lead deserves careful scrutiny. Keita Suzuki and the two deep defenders aside, every player on the team seemed to stroll casually for the remainder of the contest. If this writer had been in Osim's shoes, four or five players would be on the plane back to Japan tomorrow morning. Kaji, Yamagishi and Endo would head the list. If you arent willing to make an effort for the national team, you have no business wearing the uniform. There are plenty of other players who would have done just fine in the place of these slackers. And there is no reason why Osim cant make it through the remainder of the tournament with 17 or 18 players. If the worst of the slackers are sent crawling home in ignomy (and we can only imagine the media savaging they would be met with), perhaps it would wake the rest of the team up and get them to put in a decent effort.

But then, Osim himself should not be let off the hook for the poor outing, either. He was the one who insisted on bringing -- and playing -- people like Kaji, Yamagishi and Naotake Hanyu (who had a wide-open shot from five meters out, in the first minute of injury time, which could have salvaged the win. But he sent it flying miles wide of the right post). If you insist on choosing players who are clearly not the best ones available, you had better hope they dont screw up. And while Hanyu's miss was excusable, considering how hard he ran in his 15 minutes on the pitch, Yamagishi's complete lack of effort should be a source of utter shame for Osim. If you choose a mediocre player like that ahead of visibly better players, you at least expect him to run hard!

Then again, it is better to get this sort of a result out of the way in the first match. Qatar is probably the toughest opponent in this group, and the infuriating nature of the late goal -- on a highly dubious officiating call -- is sure to come as a painful slap in the face. Hopefully this will be the wake-up call that the team needs, to start making a meaningful effort.

And if not . . . well . . . Osim had better do whatever it takes to to make sure that doesnt happen. Though the Rising Sun News thinks that he has been treated quite unfairly by the press, an inability to motivate the team to better efforts than what we saw on Monday night would be difficult to excuse, regardless of how effective his technical coaching abilities might be.