National Team Match:

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Japan 4 - 1 Thailand

Date: February 6 2008 Location: Saitama Stadium Japan 4 1 1H 1 3 2H 0 1 Thailand Yasuhito Endo (21) Yoshito Okubo (54') Yuji Nakazawa (66') Seiichiro Maki (89') Scoring Teeratep (22') Cautions Naronchai Apichat Teeratip Naronchai Sent off Naronchai Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Atsuto Uchida, Yuji Nakazawa, Yuki Abe, Yuichi Komano, Keita Suzuki, Yasuhito Endo, Kengo Nakamura, Koji Yamase (Seiichiro Maki 68), Yoshito Okubo (Naotake Hanyu 87), Naohiro Takahara (Ryuji Bando 81) TBA

As the soft white flakes drifted down out of a chill evening sky over Saitama Stadium, the Japan national team took the field for its first World Cup qualification match of the new Okada Era, against a chilly and clearly unhappy squad from Thailand. The team had done its level best to "prepare" for the challenge of travelling to Japan in February, by camping at the City of Light stadium in Manchester for the past week or so, but even that had not prepared the Thais for the fickle weather of a Japanese winter. A blizzard met the team at the airport when they arrived in Japan, and as if to answer the visitors' grumbling complaints about the conditions, a sudden cold front whipped into Tokyo on Wednesday afternoon and brought yet another dose of white wintry whimsy just in time for the kickoff.

Although the overall content of Japan's performance was not impressive enough to unleash wild celebration, the final score line certainly will leave fans and players alike with a sense of satisfaction. We suspect that the score of this contest could have been even more lopsided if coach Okada could just figure out which players truly represent the future of the Japan NT, and which ones have outlived their usefulness. Nevertheless, if you consider that he only had three months to put together a squad and prepare it for this critical World Cup qualification match against a very hard-working and energetic opponent, it is hard to be too critical about this performance. The final score line, without question, is one that any Japan NT fan would have accepted with pleasure, before the contest started.

Our criticism lies mainly in the fact that three or four of the key players in Okada's squad lack the determination and killer instinct that are really needed to produce results at this level. And considering how many other options are avaialble, the sooner that Okada begins trying some other options, the happier we will be. But that is really just minor quibbling. The essential elements of a successful team are all in place, and when you consider the short period of time that coach Okada has had to prepare, it is not surprising that his plans should need a bit of fine-tuning before it can start producing the sort of football that we can all sit back and enjoy.

Japan got off to a strong start in this match, pressing steadily forward against a clearly weaker opponent. If the team had a bit better chemistry, or if some of the key attacking players had been a bit sharper, they might have taken a quick lead. By the ten minute mark Japan had already earned four corner kicks and two or three dangerous moments in front of the Thai goal. But like they did against Bosnia, the Japanese attacking players tried to be more elaborate than necessary, trying to make too many pinpoint passes and walk the ball into the net, rather than just putting the ball into space and firing off a shot when the chance presented itself.

Once again, most of the inefficiency up front can be attributed to a poor performance by Naohiro Takahara, and the lack of speed in the attacking midfield, where once again Yasuhito Endo and Kengo Nakamura were used in the same line, despite the fact that their contributions are clearly redundant. But despite these weaknesses, the attack did have the Thais pinned back for the entire first 20 minutes of the contest. After a number of squandered opportunities, Japan finally opened the scoring in the 21 minute, after a quick through pass sent Yoshito Okubo behind his defender and rather than allow the speedy Okubo to charge towards the box with only one man between him and the keeper, Naronchai clipped his legs from behind and conceded a free kick. Yasuhito Endo made the Thais pay for the indiscretion, however, sending his free kick narrowly over the wall, ensuring that the keeper could not see it until it was far too late. The ball sliced sharply to the left and slipped just inside the post. Japan 1-0 Thailand.

But in their joy at having conquered the early jitters, Japan got complacent and the Thais made them pay. Immediately after the kickoff, Thailand surged forward, while Japan was still too mellow with enjoyment to do the proper job on defence. Both Endo and Nakamura backpedaled lackadaisically, giving their opponent's far too much space, and seeing an opportunity, Teeratep let loose a sudden blast from 30 yards out. If Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi had been fully focused, even the slack defending would not have mattered. But Kawaguchi was also nodding off a bit, and he failed to react in time to parry the shot. The ball slipped just underneath the crossbar, and just 60 seconds after Japan's opener the Thais had leveled the score line.

This year our New Year's resolution, at the Rising Sun News, is to do our best to just ignore the horrendous officiating that is so commonplace in Asian football. As those who have followed the game in Asia for any length of time are well aware, some referees -- both in the J.League and in interrnational matches -- are simply too clueless to ignore, and so there will be times when we simply have to point out some of the problems. However, this year we will try our best to keep the complaints to a minimum. That said, it is hard to overlook the Saudi referee's conscious effort to help Thailand with their efforts to stall the contest. At the end of the first half, Japan won a corner kick about 40 seconds into injury time. The fourth official had just held up a sign saying one minute of extra time. But as Keita Suzuki rushed to the corner and set the ball down, the referee blew his whistle, with the clock showing 45:58. Some calls, no matter how questionable they may look on replay, can be explained away as just a matter of the official's perception. Maybe he didnt see what the TV cameras saw. But blowing half time at 45:58, to prevent Japan from taking their corner kick . . . Im sorry, thats just an insult to the principle of good sportsmanship.

Japan came out in the second half with a bit more bite to their attack. Although Endo and Nakamura still were trying to pass the ball into the opposition net, wingbacks Yuichi Komano and Atsuto Uchida, as well as Koji Yamase in the playmaker role, seemed to realise that the solution was to take on a man, and dribble through the defensive perimeter. This tactic immediately showed promise, and after two or three close calls, Yamase finally turned the left corner and began dashing towards the post as teammates queued up in a line near the penalty spot. Yamase's defender managed to nudge him off balance so the drop pass failed to find Kengo Nakamura, but as a Thai defender snatched it, Nakamura threw a boot in and knocked the ball loose. It took a fortunat bounce, ricocheting in front of the net, right onto the boots of Yoshito Okubo, who simply had to stab it home from point blank range.

This goal provided the deadly impact that Endo's goal earlier in the match should have. Forced to push forward in search of an equaliser, the Thais were suddenly stretched thin, and open for quick counterattacking moves. Japan also seemed to suddenly discover the hunger that seemed lacking from their play earlier in the contest, and a string of free kicks and corner kicks had the Thais flailing in desperation. In the 64 minute the coup de grace was delivered, though it was a self-inflicted wound. As Nawkazawa and Okubo exchanged passes and positions, defender Naronchai got caught moving in the wrong direction, and rather than let Nakazawa surge past him, he threw up an arm and clotheslined the Japan defender, just inches away from the linesman. Naronchai already had one yellow card, and after giving the Thais the benefit of the doubt for 65 minutes, the referee must have realised that he had only one choice. He went to his pocket for a second yellow, and then a red, reducing the Thais to ten men and ending the contest as a competitive affair. Less than two minutes later Kengo Nakamura found Yuji Nakazawa with a free kick, and Bomberhead nodded the ball into the right side netting to put the match out of reach.

At this point, coach Okada made a very odd decision, taking off Yamase -- one of the most productive men on the pitch up to that point -- and bringing on Seiichiro Maki. We have to wonder how much higher the final score line could have been if not for this substitution, because the combination of Maki and Takahara up front was simply pathetic. Neither one of them even seemed to touch the ball over the next 15 minutes, until Takahara was finally replaced in the 81 minute. Japan did add one more goal in the first minute of injury time, on a corner kick that Maki headed in at the far post. But the content of play down the stretch was a bit disappointing, and it was clearly the absence of Yamase which made the difference.

As we said at the top, the overall evaluation of this contest has to be positive. Japan did win -- and win comfortably -- despite facing a very highly motivated opponent which has spent a lot more time developing team coordination than Japan has been accorded. Apart from the one long-distance shot by Teeravit, the defence was nearly impenetrable. Indeed, the play that led to their goal was one of only three or four occasions in the entire match that the Thais even managed to move the ball into Japan's defensive end. The two wingbacks, Komano and Uchida, again set the example for all the other players in terms of their sharpness, work rate, and desire to take on opponents with the ball.

However, Takahara had his third poor outing in a row, and it might be a blessing in disguise that Urawa Reds coach Holger Osieck has asked Okada not to take him to China for the East Asian Cup, next week. Maki did not enter the match until late, he can blame some of his lethargy on a rib injury, and he did manage to score despite not really impressing during his ten minutes on the pitch. However, we really think that Okada needs to consider other options up front.

Above all, it is essential that Okada do something to inject energy and sharpness to the attacking midfield. Yamase did a fine job, and the team clearly suffered when he was taken out. But Endo and Nakamura were extremely ineffective. Their contributions on set plays were useful in the final analysis, but you dont need to have two players on the pitch whose only real contribution is to take free kicks and corner kicks. Japan needs a sharp, energetic dribbler who will take on opponents and create openings with his movement and penetration. The list of players who (at least in theory) are capable of filling this role is as long as Peter Crouch's arm, so there is no excuse for wasting any more time with a lineup that has already proven itself unequal to the task.

Japan has three matches over the next two weeks, which have no real importance or meaning except as an opportunity to try out various options and test promising players. If he is smart, coach Okada will accede to the wishes of both the Reds and Gamba, release Takahara and Endo from the squad, and go to the East Asian Cup with a group of players who can be tested as potential replacements / additions to the underperforming midfield.

The first step on Japan's journey to South Africa has been taken successfully. But there is still a long way to go, and it is best to resolve any questions and concerns now, while the chance presents itself. Things are only going to get tougher, further down the road.