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Have You Ever Been to Spain?

Phillippe Troussier named a lineup of players for Japan's trip to Spain that raised more than a few eyebrows. The lineup was quite a bit different from the team that travelled to France, with Troussier putting more emphasis on defence and physical stamina. However, it is still a bit unclear what he will do about scoring capabilities. The lineup for the Spain match (including two players already based in Europe) is listed below.

The perception that this team is designed for impact, not scoring, is reinforced by several players who got their first national team caps. Shimizu S-Pulse midfielder Kazuyuki Toda is best known for collecting red cards in high-profile matches, though in the 2001 season he has shown much more maturity, and poise (that is to say, he limits himself to yellow cards to avoid hurting his team's chances). In addition, Troussier has called up Kashima Antlers forward Takayuki Suzuki. The "blonde bomber" was schooled in the rough-and-tumble Rio league, where he played for two years as a youngster. Suzuki has good moves and a hard shot, but he is best known for barrelling through defenders (and occasionally, keepers) who happen to get in his way.

If that were not enough, rumors have emerged from the training camp that Troussier has experimented with a "five-defender, three-volante" lineup. While this might sound horribly dire, evoking images of a Belgium-like packed defence and one or two shots on goal for the entire match, this might not necessarily be the case. Japan's traditional back three all have the ability to move forward in support. Meanwhile, Koji Nakata (Antlers), Toshihiro Hattori (Jubilo) and Kazuyuki Toda (S-Pulse) all are nominal midfielders for their club teams, but have seen action at defender as well. All have good dribbling skills, reasonable speed and the ability to center the ball well. This suggests that they could play a wing back position that is generally defensive, but could spring forward into attack in an instant. The most likely members of a three-volante line would be Junichi Inamoto (3 goals in a Japan uniform), Tomokazu Myojin (2 goals in 5 games for Japan) and Hiroshi Nanami (14 national team goals). If Troussier does indeed play this odd lineup, the counterattacks could be a formidable danger.

Anyway, regardless of the final score on Wednesday, it seems likely that Japan will field a physically competitive and defensive-minded squad. Although few observers expect Japan to win, Troussier definitely intends deliver a message and hopefully will bet a score line more respectable than the 5-0 loss to France.

For its part, Spain has called up the following players for the match against Japan.

Obviously, Spain is not taking the match lightly despite Japan's 5-0 loss to France. Although only one player has been called from a league outside Spain (Romero of AC Milan), the lineup includes enough top talent that Spain looks like the clear favourite in this match. The main question, from a Japanese fan's perspective, is how well the team performs -- especially the newer players -- and how competetive Japan looks against top-notch opposition.

A full summary and analysis of the match will be provided on this site early on April 26 (Thursday).

The Kids go South

Two days later, Japan once again showed its lack of staying power. The team put on an impressive show in the first half against Paraguay, controlling the pace of the match and even scoring a goal on a header by Ohkubo, that was unfortunately called back for offside. However, the team faded in the second half and Paraguay rolled to a 2-0 victory. With just one match to play, Japan's U-20 squad needs to keep their performance level up for the full 90 minutes in the final match agains Bolivia if they want to return home with a positive result to show for their efforts.

The members of Japan's U-20 team are listed below:

Nabisco Cup: First Round Results

Date	Home	.	Away	.
Apr 4	Shonan Bellmare	0-1	Kashiwa Reysol	Aggregate: 1-0
Apr 18	Kashiwa Reysol	0-0	Shonan Bellmare
Apr 4	Montedio Yamagata	2-0	Urawa Reds	Aggregate: 3-2
Apr 18	Urawa Reds	3-0	Montedio Yamagata
Apr 4	Kyoto P.Sanga	0-2	Gamba Osaka	Aggregate: 4-0
Apr 18	Gamba Osaka	2-0	Kyoto P.Sanga
Apr 4	Omiya Ardija	1-1	JEF Ichihara	Aggregate: 2-1
Apr 18	JEF Ichihara	1-0	Omiya Ardija
Apr 4	Oita Trinita	2-0	Consadole Sapporo	Aggregate: 3-2
Apr 18	Consadole Sapporo	2-1	Oita Trinita
Apr 4	Jubilo Iwata	2-2	Cerezo Osaka	Aggregate: 4-3
Apr 18	Cerezo Osaka	1-2	Jubilo Iwata
Apr 4	Yokohama FC	1-1	Tokyo Verdy	Aggregate: 3-1
Apr 18	Tokyo Verdy	0-2	Yokohama FC
Apr 4	Mito Hollyhock	0-1	Yokohama Marinos	Aggregate: 4-1
Apr 18	Yokohama Marinos	3 - 1	Mito Hollyhock
Apr 4	Vegalta Sendai	1-2	Avispa Fukuoka	Aggregate: 4-1
Apr 18	Avispa Fukuoka	2-2	Vegalta Sendai
Apr 4	Sagan Tosu	1-3	Vissel Kobe	Aggregate: 7-1
Apr 18	Vissel Kobe	4-0	Sagan Tosu
Apr 4	FC Tokyo	5-0	Ventforet Kofu	Aggregate: 6-0
Apr 18	Ventforet Kofu	0-1	FC Tokyo
Apr 4	Albirex Niigata	0-2	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Aggregate: 4-0
Apr 18	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	2-0	Albirex Niigata

The biggest surprise of all was Yokohama FC -- a team that rose from the ashes of the former Yokohama Flugels, and has finally achieved promotion to the J2 this season. Yokohama pulled a stunning upset on Tokyo Verdy , which in its former guise as Verdy Kawasaki was one of the Flugels' fiercest rivals. Nearly as impressive is the fact that Oita Trinita forged through to the second round where they will face Kawasaki Frontale, a J2 club which gained a bye by reaching the finals of last year's Nabisco Cup (when they were still a member of the J1). This means that, regardless of the second round result, a J2 team will move to the quarterfinal round for the first time in the history of the Nabisco Cup.

Below is the schedule of matches for the second round:

Be sure to tune in later this week for a complete rundown on the Japan-Spain match. The J.League will resume play on April 29 (Monday), which is a national holiday in Japan.