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June 5, 2003
Exhibition Season Brings Out the Fans

The reason for the big crowds and high excitement was that Japan's overseas stars had come home, to play exhibition matches with their current teams against J.League competition. These events proved to be remarkably popular, and if the crowds at Saitama Stadium, Nagai Stadium and Miyagi Stadium are any indication, there is a good chance that such exhibition matches will become a regular fixture of the summer months in Japan.

Then again, judging from the wide eyes and open mouths of opposing players and coaches on the team benches of Parma, Feyenoord and Chievo, the next time that they visit they are likely to come prepared for a serious contest. There were a few moments -- particularly in the Urawa Reds vs Feyenoord match -- when the local teams seemed to stand back in awe of their European counterparts. But once play got serious, the J.League clubs came away with convincing results which, despite the friendly nature of the matches, will surely have clubs in Europe taking a closer look at some of the domestic talent.

2 - 2 Parma

The man of the match for the local boys was Yoshito Okubo, despite the fact that the youngster was restricted to just 45 minutes of playing time due to a directive from Zico, who wants to keep his players fresh for the upcoming Kirin Cup (all other national team players who took part in the Wednesday night matches also played only one half of the contest). Okubo is quickly gaining a reputation as a "tough guy" with no respect or consideration for any opponent, regardless of who they might be. The young striker refused to accept a Parma shirt at the end of the match, showing disdain for the Serie A players. But perhaps the most impressive moment for those who admire the intense competitiveness of Okubo came just moments after he stepped onto the pitch for the second half. As Parma came upfield Okubo crashed into Hidetoshi Nakata, tugging at his shirt and trying to muscle him off the ball. When the whistle blew, Nakata turned and said something to Okubo with a half-smirk on his face. But far from being intimidated, the youngster glared back with a look of disdain that could have frozen seawater, then dismissed the Parma midfielder with a backward flick of the hand as if to say: "go away son, ya bother me!"

Unfortunately, Okubo did not start the match, and one wonders what the result might have been if he had. Hiroaki Morishima Hiroaki Morishima also failed to take part, due to injury, yet Cerezo came out with a flurry of activity that showed the team at its aggressive, attack-oriented finest, and surely had some Italian scouts scratching their chins and considering the prospects of some of Osaka's youngsters. Just 8 minutes into the match, Cerezo won a corner kick on the right side following some nice work by Kiyokazu Kudo. The initial cross was cleared back to the rigth sideline, but Takaaki Tokushige sent it back in for the far post, and it was only just cleared by the parma defence. As the ball bounded out towards the top left corner of the box, Yusuke Sato dashed forward from midfield and, with his first touch, lofted a perfect floater for the right post. Akinori Nishizawa timed his run perfectly, and made a soaring leap to head the ball just inside the post and give Cerezo a surprising 1-0 lead.

The next 45 minutes were a delightful ballet of attacking football that every Serie A fan should be forced to watch. Obviously, Serie A players know how to play attacking football, but it seems that only an exhibition contest with a team like Cerezo, who throw everything they have into the attack, can inspire them to display the offensive flair that they possess. Parma definitely had the upper hand throughout the period, but Cerezo used crafty one-touch passes at midfield and constant motion to generate several good chances of their own. The result was a sequence of play that was well worth the price of admission.

Unfortunately, the Cerezo defence showed the same sort of lapses that have been their band in the J.League this season. Although they held Parma at bay through a number of attacking sequences, both of Parma's goals came due to errors that a world-class finisher like Adriano was sure to punish severely. In the 13 minute, A long lob into the box landed between the keeper, a Cerezo defender and Adriano. If Cerezo possessed any real defensive coordination, the defender would have screened Adriano while the keeper collected the ball, but as it was, all three crashed into one another, and Adriano outmuscled the others to the loose ball, flicking it into the net at close range.

Then, just before half time another error on defence sent a miscleared ball to Adriano at the top of the penalty area. Joao rushed up to try to screen the shot, but all the big Brazilian needed was a tiny seam to fire the ball through, and he found that with a single burst of speed to the left. His shot rocketed into the top left corner, where keeper Seigo Shimokawa had not a prayer to stop it.

As the second half began, both teams began bringing in younger players, and remarkably, this turned the tide of momentum towards Cerezo. In addition to the irrepressable Okubo, Cerezo got some impressive play from 18-year-old midfielder Noriyuki Sakemoto and striker Tomi Shimomura , neither one of whom has broken into the Cerezo lineup yet. However, based on the play of Sakemoto, in particular, it may not be long before he wins a regular place in the team. Indeed, he was responsible for setting up the equalizer, on a bit of sparkling individual play.

With just over 10 minutes left in the contest, Osaka had been pressing into Parma territory repeatedly, but was unable to create the key scoring opportunity. Then, in the 79 minute Sakemoto found himself pidded along the left sideline by two Parma defenders. Pulling the ball towards himself as if to do a bit of jubbling practice, Sakemoto lifted the ball once . . .twice . . .then suddenly flicked it towards midfield and spun about to dash between his defenders. Caught off guard by the audacity of the play, the two Parma midfielders watched him rush by, and before anyone could react, Sakemoto had fired a pass into the attacking zone. Okubo took off with a lunge of speed, and collected the pass on the break, just outside the box. Fighting off two retreating defenders at his back, Okubo lined up the shot and fired into the low right corner, giving Cerezo a well-deserved draw.

2 - 2 Feyenoord

From hat instant until the end of the first half, the Reds players stumbled about the pitch like a group of disorganised schoolboys watching in awe as their heroes demonstrated footballing skills for them. As Hans Ooft noted at half time, it was remarkable that Feyenoord did not manage to score at least one additional goal, considering how many errant passes, missed assignments and other blunders the team from Urawa committed. To make matters worse, the packed stands of Saitama Stadium were dead silent!!! For anyone who has attended a Reds match before, this is almost beyond belief. Yet the 53,000 red-shirted supporters filling the vast stadium watched in rapt silence as Feyenoord passed the ball around the pitch at will, apparently as star-struck as the Reds players.

It is difficult to know what Ooft said to his team at half time. Hopefully it was not complementary. To be outplayed by a better-skilled European team is something that can be accepted, but to blunder about the pitch and embarass yourselves in front of a team of European proffessionals is something that deserves only shame. Perhaps that sums up what Ooft told his players, because when they came out in the second half, the stars were no longer in their eyes, and they seemed ready to finally start playing football.

Much of the credit for lighting a fire under the Reds players must go to Tatsuya Tanaka, who entered the match in the second half in place of national team striker Yuichiro Nagai. According to the announcers, Bert vanMarwijk told his players at half time to concentrate on defending the speedy Emerson, who had created what little offence the Reds managed in the first half entirely on his own. But the very first time Tanaka touched the ball, he made this instruction moot. Just two minutes in, Tanaka took the ball down the right sideline, dashed past his defender to the end line, and then fired a pinpoint cross that Emerson volleyed just over the bar. The crown erupted in cheers and went into their first sustained bout of chanting and singing of the entire match. The atmosphere in the stadium had changed completely in the space of just two minutes, and suddenly it was clear that the Reds were ready to start playing football.

Unfortunately, Feyenoord got a bit of luck just a few minutes later that allowed them to double the score. The Reds had pushed a bit too far forward on attack and Leonardo Santos used his speed to dash down the right wing and cross into the box for Bombarda. Since Keisuke Tsuboi, another Japanese NT member, had departed at half time, the defensive duties were left to the relatively inexperienced Takuro Nishimura, who allowed Bombarda to slip through unchallenged and slam the ball home.

But Tanaka and Emerson were beginning to feel the momentum . Tanaka put a header on goal just moments after Bombarda's strike, and and although it was saved easily by Zoetbier, the roar of the crowd began to fire up the Reds players. In the 61 minute, after one failed push had been broken up by the Feyenoord defence, Hideki Uchidate broke up the Feyenoord clearance pass and sent the ball out to the right wing Nobuhisa Yamada raced down the sideline to catch up with the ball before a Feyenoord defender could get out to cover the sideline. With his first touch of the ball, Yamada lofted a cross into the box, and Tanaka headed a bullet off the crossbar and into the back of the net.

While the Feyenoord players were still trying to figure out what had hit them, Urawa sent their very next possession to Emerson on the right side of midfield. Emerson was single-covered, and decided to just see what he could do on his own. With a sudded burst of speed, he raced past his defender and angled to the right side of the box. Though the defender recovered soon enough to cut off his path to the goal, Emerson let a shot rip as he drew level with the top of the box, and it flashed off the underside ofthe crossbar and into the net to knot the score at 2-2.

Suddently, Feyenoord realised that they had a match on their hands, and began to play with greater intensity. Nevertheless, it was the Reds who held the momentum for the remainder of the match. Having been chastened by two goals in less than a minute, Feyenoord were not about to give up any more good shots. However, they found it impossible to cover both Emerson and Tanaka closely, and still create offensive chances of their own. Of course, it must be said that Feyenoord were well into their bench by this point in the match. A first-string squad and a bit more intensity probably would have been sufficient to tip the scales in Feyenoords favour. Be that as it may, the Reds -- and Tanaka in particular -- clearly impressed the Feyenoord players and coaching staff with their second-half performance. After last night, it would be no surprise at all to hear that the Rotterdammers are chasing Tanaka as their next big signing from Asia.

2 - 1 Chievo