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Japanese Soccer News - November 2004

Japanese Soccer News

Japan National Team

World Cup Qualifiers

Having already qualified for the Final Round of World Cup qualifiers, Japan's final phase one match against Singapore was never meant to be more than an injury-free workout for the subs. Coach Zico had finally, reluctantly given up on his idea of having three aged former greats of Japanese soccer - Kazuyoshi Miura, Masashi Nakayama, and Yutaka Akita - don the blue jersey for one final match. Cooler heads prevailed on the Brazilian to abandon his latest whim. Among those who criticized Zico was the Asian Football Confederation, which sent a formal letter of complaint to the Japan Football Association for making light of Singapore and the match itself. Zico's reaction to the letter was: "The first I thought when I heard about the letter was: 'How can the AFC order me to do that?'"

Zico went with a young squad against Asian minnow Singapore. Keiji Tamada scored the only goal in an unconvincing 1-0 victory over the 118th ranked nation in the world.

In the next round, the last hurdle prior to Germany, Japan will face significantly stiffer competition: Saudi Arabia, Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, North Korea, and Kuwait will all join Japan for the Final Round in the Asian division. On December 9th, in Kuala Lumpur, there will be a draw that will set both two divisions of four teams and the venues. The top two teams from each group automatically qualify; the third place teams meet in a playoff, and then will play home-and-away against the fourth place team from CONCACAF. The winner qualifies for the World Cup.

National Team: 2005 Confederations Cup

Japan was drawn in Group B with Brazil, European champions Greece, and Mexico. Group A consists of World Cup host Germany, Argentina, Australia, and Tunisia. The fifteen-day tournament includes champions from six continents, plus World Cup host Germany and World Cup holder Brazil. The Final will be held on June 29th in Frankfurt in Wald Stadium. Other venues include Cologne, Hanover, Leipzig, and Nuremburg - all of which have undergone extensive renovations for the 2006 World Cup. Japan will face Brazil on June 22nd in a first round match.

FIFA Futsal World Championship 2005: Japan to Play in Taiwan Tournament

Japan will participate in the fifth FIFA Futsal World Cup, which will take place in Taiwan from November 21st-December 5th. Sixteen countries will participate, among them three-time winner Brazil. Japan will be in Group C, along with Paraguay, Italy, and the US. After three matches of first-round play, the top two teams from each of the four groups will progress to the next round.
Led by Brazilian Sergio Filho, Japan qualified by coming in second in April's Asian qualifier. Some 160 nations and regions took part in worldwide qualifiers.

News Update: In three first round matches, Japan drew with the US and lost to both Italy and Paraguay. As a result, the boys in blue were shown an early exit. The following teams have qualified for the next round: Spain & Ukraine (Group A), Brazil & the Czech Republic (Group B), Italy and the USA (Group C), and Argentina & Portugal (Group D). Round 2 matches begin on November 28th.

Group A
Chinese Taipei
Egypt
Spain
Ukraine

Group B
Australia
Brazil
Czech Republic
Thailand

Group C
Italy
Japan
Paraguay
USA

Group D
Argentina
Cuba
Iran
Portugal

Europe-based players: Fiorentina's Hidetoshi Nakata

Japan Captain and Fiorentina midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata played the full 90 minutes in a 1-1 tie against Inter on the 8th. On the 11th, against Juventus, Nakata played 55 minutes in a 1-0 loss.

Junichi Inamoto at West Brom

West Brom midfielder Inamoto has seen a fair amount of action in recent weeks, mainly for the for the reserve team. Against Manchester United's reserves, he played the full 90 minutes in 1-1 draw on November 1st. Against Southampton, he was scratched. Then on the 15th, in a reserves match against Aston Villa, Inamoto played the entire minutes in a 1-0 loss.

Reggina's Shunsuke Nakamura

Nakamura had a part in Reggina's 2-1 win over Juventus on November 6th but admitted himself that his condition is only fair. Following a 1-0 win against Parma on the 10th, Reggina faced AS Roma at home winning 1-0.

Atsushi Yanagisawa

Poster-boy forward Yanagisawa came on as a sub for Messina in a November 12th Serie A league match against Palermo - and nearly scored. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, with Yanagisawa's header banging off the crossbar being the closest either side came to scoring.

Naohiro Takahara in the Bundesliga

Hamburg SV's Japan forward banged in a goal in a 6-0 thrashing of bottom-dweller Hansa Rostock. Following the match, Rostock manager Juri Schlunz resigned. In a November 21st match against second place Wolfsburg, Takahara led Hamburg to a 3-1 victory. In his ninth start in a row since coming back from injury, Takahara got his first assist. Hamburg is now in 10th place on 19 points.

Feyenoord's Shinji Ono

Japan midfielder Ono's Dutch club Feyenoord lost against AZ in Holland's top division on Halloween night. Ono and fellow Feyenoord teammates failed to find the net in a 4-1 thrashing (they did get on the scoresheet thanks to an own goal). On November 7th, Feyenoord bounced back with a 4-0 win over NAC. Feyenoord held on to tie against second place Ajax 1-1 in an away match on the 14th. Feyenoord is now in third place, one point behind Ajax.

Daisuke Matsui at Le Mans

Former Kyoto Purple Sanga midfielder Matusi has played in eight matches for French second division team Le Mans. He has yet to find the net.

Cerezo Osaka and national team striker Yoshito Okubo looks set to be the latest Japanese player to test his skills in Europe. He has come to terms with Real Mallorca for a six-month loan deal. Like Cerezo ("cherry" in Spanish), Real is languishing at the bottom of its league. Okubo will leave Japan and join Mallorca on January 1st, following the conclusion of the Emperor's Cup. Asia's Young Player of the year could have his Spanish debut on the 9th, when Mallorca faces Deportivo La Coruna.

J.League Roundup: Urawa Reds Clinch Second Stage Title

In spite of a loss to Nagoya Grampus on November 20th, Urawa Reds clinched the J.League's Second Stage title when second place Gamba Osaka lost to First Stage winner Yokohama Marinos. This leaves the Reds with a seven-point lead with two matches remaining - and sets up an early December home-and-away championship against the Marinos to be held on December 5th and 11th.

J.League Nabisco Cup

Shattering the Reds hopes for a domestic treble, FC Tokyo downed the league leader 4-2 on penalties to take this year's Nabisco Cup. In spite of playing a man down after the sending off of Jean Witte in the 30th minute of the first half, Tokyo held on. From that point on, Tokyo closed up its defense to hold the Reds prolific Emerson and Tatsuya Tanaka scoreless. The Reds came close and dominated throughout much of the match. In the penalty stage, though, FC prevailed.

New Jubilo Coach: Masakuni Yamamoto

Former Olympic team coach Masakuni Yamamoto squeaked by in his debut as head coach at struggling Jubilo in a mid-November Emperor's Cup match. Holding on to win 3-2 against Sagawa, the eighth place team in the Japan Football League - Japan's third division - Yamamoto breathed a deep sigh of relief. Many impartial observers however questioned a penalty awarded to Jubilo striker Rodrigo Gral, who dove into the penalty box after what appeared to be no contact from a Sagawa defender. Yamamoto is rumored to be earning 50 million yen ($474,000) annually for his stewardship over the once great club. His main task will be how and when to dispense with his stable of aging, former national team players - and bring on the next generation of talent.

Troussier Contemplating Kobe Vissel Offer

Former Japan manager Philippe Troussier has been offered the head job at Kobe Vissel. Troussier led Japan to the second round of the 2002 World Cup in addition to winning the Asian Cup in Lebanon two years prior to that. Vissel owner and CEO of Rakuten online shopping network Hiroshi Mikitani is looking for a replacement to recently fired coach Ivan Hasek. Mikitani is continuing in his big-game hunting buying spree. In the spring, he signed Turkish striker Ilhan Mansiz, who turned out to be a flop on the pitch--and left for home in Germany, breaking his contract, midway through the season--but very popular off it. Mikitani will, however, have a lot of competition to land Troussier. According to the intense Frenchman, he has had "had some proposals from Scotland, Nigeria, Ghana, and also a possiblilty to come back to France." After losing his job as head coach of Qatar after the recent Asian Cup, Troussier has been testing the waters. He may ultimately end up at Marseille, but Troussier insists he is considering Kobe's offer seriously.

News Update: Troussier was named as and has accepted the position of head coach at Marseille. That makes him the 13th manager since 1996, the year that businessman Robert Louis-Dreyfus took over the French League powerhouse.

J.League Injuries: Yokohama Marinos

There were two major injuries in the League in November. Japan international and Yokohama Marinos forward Tatsuhiko Kubo is suffering lower back problems. Another Marinos star to get bit by the injury bug was Korea international Ahn Jung Hwan, who fractured a bone in a World Cup qualifier.

J1 Results

Saturday 20 November

S Pulse 2 v Reysol 1
Urawa Reds 1 v Grampus 2
Cerezo 1 v Verdy 1
JEF United 5 v Vissel 1
Albirex 4 v Tokyo 2
Gamba 0 v Marinos 2
Sanfrecce 3 Jubilo 2
Trinita 0 v Antlers 3

Leading J. League scorers as of November 25.

27 Emerson (Urawa Reds)
20 Oguro (Gamba)
17 Marques (Grampus)
15 Bando (Vissel Kobe, Gral (Jubilo)
14 Edmilson (Albirex)
13 Okubo (Cerezo)
12 Ahn Jung Hwan (Marinos), Marquinhos (JEF)

J2 Results

Saturday 20 November

Vegalta 2 v Montedio 0

Ardija 3 v Hollyhock 1
Bellmare 0 v Avispa 1
Yokohama FC 1 v Ventforet 0
Sagan 0 v Purple Sanga 2

With its win over the weekend, Ardija clinched second place and a spot in J1 next season. The Saitama squad will join first-place Kawasaki Frontale in the top league next year.

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