Re: Kirin Cup: Japan 2 - 0 Paraguay

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: <i>: I read your previews of the JLeague second stage, but what I wanted to know is who the Marinos second string GK is and what he's capable of in case Kawaguchi actually does go abroad this summer. I guess the Marinos haven't had to call on a reserve GK for ages. Do you know who they have and what they're like? I also saw that Chila is said to be considering a move to Japan - is there any prospect he could be thinking Yokohama? (incidentally - do you have oddds on the Marinos for the Nabisco Cup: the SF shouldn't be a problem - maybe the season needn't be a total write-off)</i> : Well, as you probably know they traded away Takakuwa two years ago because he was too good to continue playing second-fiddle to Kawaguchi. : Right now their No.2 is a big (190cm) youngster named Enomoto who has never started, but they do have a veteran, Shimokawa, who could probably stand in on a temporary basis. The Chilavert rumour was mainly linked to the two Tokyo clubs and to Cerezo Osaka. I seriously doubt that Marinos would lay out the kind of money needed to sign him. : As for the Nabisco Cup, Marinos certainly do have the best draw of any contender (with the possible exception of Nagoya. On the other hand, the way they have been playing lately they will have to consider themselves lucky just to get past Kawasaki Frontale. I dont see them going beyond the semifinal, even if Nagoya will be without Pixy by that time. : <i>: Secondly, I was trying to find a list of goalscorers for the National team since Troussier took over, but I couldn't find that on your site. Do you have the statistics for it somewhere? I think it would make interesting reading - my guess is there would be a surprising number of people that have scored 2-4 goals but very few with much more. Then again many of the goals scored would be against poor opposition in Asian matches, so I wanted to see who has done well against better opposition. Can you dig up a list of who scored what against who from somewhere?</i> : I dont actually have a separate compilation of goal totals, but the basic data is in the table for the Japanese national team under Troussier (go to National Team/History and then click on Troussier). Ill post the table below, though, since I havent updated my site yet to include yesterday's match. By my rough count I think it is 8 for Nakayama, 7 for Nishizawa, 6 each for Takahara and Yanagisawa and 5 for Morishima. You are right that there are a lot of people with 2-3 goals, but it isnt as lopsided as you might expect. Most of the goals have come from the top 4 forwards. : What stands out in my mind, more than anything, is how many goals Yanagi has scored against quality opponents, despite not getting tapped for the "pigeon shoot" matches against teams like Brunei and Macao. Whether you like him or not, it is hard to dismiss his scoring ability. In fact, his two goals yesterday now mean that he has put the ball past Chilavert 5 times in his career (he scored a hat trick in last year's "JOMO Dream Match"). I bet there are only a handful of people in the world who could make a similar claim. : <center><table width=500 border=5 bgcolor="89abde"><tr><td colspan=5><center><h3>Japan Nat'l Team 1998-Present</h3></center> : </td></tr><tr><th>Date</th><th>Venue</th><th>Score</th><th>Opponent</th><th>Goals by . . .</th></tr><tr><td>10.28.98</td><td>Osaka (Nagai)</td><td>1 - 0</td><td>Egypt</td><td>Nakayama</td></tr><tr><td> : 3.31.99</td><td>Tokyo (National)</td><td>0 - 2</td><td>Brazil</td><td>. </td></tr> : <tr><td>6.3.99</td><td>Tokyo (National)</td><td>0 - 0</td><td>Belgium</td><td>.</td></tr> : <tr><td>6.6.99</td><td>Yokohama</td><td>0 - 0</td><td>Peru</td><td>. </td></tr> : <tr><td>6.29.99</td><td>Asuncion</td><td>2 - 3</td><td>Peru</td><td>Lopes, A.Miura </td></tr> : <tr><td>7.2.99</td><td>Asuncion</td><td>0 - 4</td><td>Paraguay</td><td>. </td></tr> : <tr><td>7.5.99</td><td>Caballero</td><td>1 - 1</td><td>Bolivia</td><td>Lopes </td></tr> : <tr><td>9.8.99</td><td>Yokohama</td><td>1 - 1</td><td>Iran</td><td>Oku </td></tr> : <tr><td>2.5.00</td><td>Hong Kong</td><td>0 - 1</td><td>Mexico</td><td>. </td></tr><tr><td> : 2.13.00</td><td>Macao Stadium</td><td>3 - 0</td><td>Singapore</td><td>Nakazawa(2), Nakayama </td></tr><tr><td> : 2.16.00</td><td>Macao Stadium</td><td>9 - 0</td><td>Brunei</td><td>Nakayama(3), Takahara(2), Kazu, Nakamura, Hirano, Sawanobori </td></tr><tr><td> : 2.20.00</td><td>Macao Stadium</td><td>3 - 0 </td><td>Macao</td><td>Nakayama(2), Takahara </td></tr><tr><td> : 3.15.00</td><td>Tokyo (National)</td><td>0 - 0</td><td>China</td><td>. </td></tr><tr><td> : 4.26.00</td><td>Seoul</td><td>0 - 1 </td><td>S.Korea</td><td>. </td></tr><tr><td> : 6.4.00</td><td>Morocco</td><td>2 - 2</td><td>France</td><td>Morishima, Nishizawa </td></tr><tr><td> : 6.6.00</td><td>Morocco</td><td>4 - 0</td><td>Jamaica</td><td>Jo(2), Yanagisawa, Kazu </td></tr><tr><td> : 6.11.00</td><td>Sendai (Miyagi)</td><td>1 - 1</td><td>Slovakia</td><td>Nakamura </td></tr><tr><td> : 6.18.00</td><td>Yokohama</td><td>2 - 0</td><td>Bolivia</td><td>Yanagisawa(2) </td></tr><tr><td> : 8.16.00</td><td>Tokyo(National)</td><td>3 - 0</td><td>UAE</td><td>Morishima, Nakamura, Oku </td></tr><tr><td> : 10.14.00</td><td>Sidon,Lebanon</td><td>4 - 1</td><td>Saudi Arabia</td><td>Yanagisawa, Takahara, Nanami, Ono </td></tr><tr><td> : 10.17.00</td><td>Sidon,Lebanon</td><td>8 - 1</td><td>Uzbekistan</td><td>Takahara(3), Nishizawa(3), Morishima, Kitajima </td></tr><tr><td> : 10.20.00</td><td>Beirut</td><td>1 - 1</td><td>Qatar</td><td>Nishizawa </td></tr><tr><td> : 10.23.00</td><td>Beirut</td><td>4 - 1</td><td>Iraq</td><td>Nanami(2), Takahara, Myojin </td></tr><tr><td> : 10.26.00</td><td>Beirut</td><td>3 - 2</td><td>Iraq</td><td>Morishima, Nishizawa, Myojin </td></tr><tr><td> : 10.29.00</td><td>Beirut</td><td>1 - 0</td><td>Saudi Arabia</td><td>Mochizuki </td></tr><tr><td> : 12.20.00</td><td>Tokyo(National)</td><td>1 - 1 </td><td>Korea</td><td>Hattori</td></tr> : <tr><td>03.25.01</td><td>Stade de France</td><td>0 - 5 </td><td>France</td><td>.</td></tr> : <tr><td>04.25.01</td><td>Cordova</td><td>0 - 1 </td><td>Spain</td><td>.</td></tr> : <tr><td>05.31.01</td><td>Niigata Stadium</td><td>3 - 0 </td><td>Canada</td><td>Ono, Nishizawa, Morishima</td></tr> : <tr><td>06.02.01</td><td>Niigata Stadium</td><td>2 - 0 </td><td>Cameroon</td><td>Suzuki (2)</td></tr> : <tr><td>06.04.01</td><td>Kashima Stadium</td><td>0 - 0 </td><td>Brazil</td><td>.</td></tr> : <tr><td>06.07.01</td><td>Yokohama Intl.</td><td>1 - 0 </td><td>France</td><td>Nakata</td></tr> : <tr><td>06.10.01</td><td>Yokohama Intl.</td><td>0 - 1 </td><td>France</td><td>.</td></tr> : <tr><td>07.01.01</td><td>Sapporo Dome</td><td>2 - 0 </td><td>Paraguay</td><td>Yanagisawa (2)</td></tr> : </table> : </center> : : : Also, the commentators today were saying something on the lines that Troussier is picking a core squad of thirty in advance of the WC and that it is 90% confirmed: logically that means there are only three places undecided. Have you seen a list of who the 27 confirmed (or the 3 unconfirmed) might be? : This is based on a direct quote from Troussier. : I rarely take anything that Troussier says as anything other than an attempt to mess with people's minds. However, I have come to admit that he is quite effective with his mind games, and seems to do a good job of getting his players mentally prepared for a match. He also seems to be constantly looking for a way to mess with the minds of opponents. Look at what he did with Paraguay, calling up Hiroyama and then not even putting him in as a substitute late in the match. To me, that was vintage Troussier -- get the Paraguay team to focus on something familiar, and then leave them dangling. He also floated rumours about how he planned to use Akita in the middle and Miyamoto on the right side. This is simply an not-too-subtle tactic aimed at getting Pixy worked up, and nothing more. I would be quite surprised to see either player in action, except possibly in a cameo role, on Wednesday night. : On the basis of past experience, then, the only thing this "90%" comment means to me is that Troussier wants some of the people who HAVE been called lately to stop worrying whether they are in the team or not (particularly the "fragile egos" like Shinji, Kawaguchi and Yanagisawa), while still putting the pressure on those who have been borderline. But for all practical purposes, he could easily change 50% of his lineup -- or even more -- for the WC2002. It would certainly be in line with his past behaviour. It is dangerous to take anything he says seriously.

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