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Japanese Soccer News 2 - May 2003

J.League Roundup

Gert Engels

Following matches over the weekend of May 24th-25th, Jubilo sits at the top of the J1 table with 21 points in 10 matches. In spite of the loss of star forward Naohiro Takahara, who transferred to the German Bundesliga earlier this year, Jubilo is still proving to be the dominant team in the League. Rodrigo Gral and Toshiya Fujita are filling the large void left by Takahara's departure. JEF United lies a point behind Jubilo in second place. At the other end of the table, Emperor's Cup winner Kyoto Purple Sanga self-destructed once again, losing at home to Cerezo Osaka 4-2 on May 24th and putting German coach Gert Engels under pressure to keep his job just months after Kyoto's Emperor's Cup success. Olympic star Daisuke Matsui missed from the penalty spot in the first half; this set the tone for Sanga and its hapless defense. This leaves them with only six points on two wins and eight losses--and trailing recently promoted Oita Trinita.

J1 action will take a more than one month long recess until matches return on July 5th. In that interim, the national team will host Argentina and Paraguay in the Kirin Cup on, respectively, June 8th and 11th. Then, at the end of June, the squad will travel to France to participate in the Confederations Cup.

Olympic Team Gets by Burma, Crushes New Zealand

Japan's under-22 Olympic squad thrashed tiny Burma in two matches in early May in the first step towards a berth in Athens next summer. After some first half jitters in the first of the two Japan-based matches, the deluge began. Japan scored three times in the second half of game one, and then defeated Burma 5-0 in game two.

Considering that the Burmese are a team made up of amateurs whose average age is 19--and that in the second match they were down to 9 men--Japan's performance was wanting. Against a Burma team ranked 137th in the world, it took a group of J.League stars 50 minutes to find the net in the opening match--and only after the Burmese appeared to tire.

Later in the month, Japan defeated New Zealand 4-0 at Kobe Wing Stadium in a friendly. Minus five of their regulars, the Kiwis were clearly out of their depth as Japan sent wave after wave of attacks against backpedalling defenders. The dam finally burst late in the first half when Osaka Gamba forward Satoshi Nakayama scored off a corner kick late in the first half. Yoshito Okubo, Koiji Yamase, and Koji Morisaki added their names to the score sheet to round out a strong showing for the Japan side.

National Team

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Japan lost at home 1-0 against South Korea in a May 31st friendly. South Korea came to Tokyo after SARS resulted in the cancellation of the East Asian Football Championships, which was to have featured China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and host Japan. It was also a revenge match for the Koreans, who lost to Japan in Seoul in April from a fluke goal in injury time.

Japan held its own in the first half, and at times showed creativity in midfield. However, the second half was all Korea. With the exceptions of Akira Narahashi--minus one fatal pass towards the end of the match, which led to Koreas's goal--and, as a subsititute, twenty-year-old forward Yoshito Okubo, Japan was overwhelmed by a fitter and more creative Korean side. After many near misses, Shimizu S-Pulse's Korean star Ahn Jung Hwan finally got on the scoresheet in the 86th minute. Were it not for poor finishing and wet conditions, the Koreans could easily have run up the score by considerably more.

Things don't bode well for Coach Zico's flacid front line against Argentina, who will be in Japan for a June 8th friendly in Osaka. One can only wonder at the continued use of the ineffective thirty-five-year-old Masashi Nakayama. As inspirational a presence as he may be, it is time to let younger and better players into the starting lineup. Disappointing too was Alessandro Santos (aka, Alex), the naturalized Brazilian with but one move on his resume. Korean defenders obviously knew in advance that he can only go to his left--and that his touch leaves much to be desired--and easily marked him out of the match.

Japanese Players in Europe

Life in the Premier League is proving hard for its Japanese contingent. Junichi Inamoto and Kazuyuki Toda have both seen limited playing time in their year abroad in England. After transferring from Arsenal to Fulham in the hopes of seeing more playing time, Inamoto started the year well, scoring a hat trick in an Intertoto game, and then a goal apiece in two consecutive league matches. Injuries, though, limited his playing time thereafter. As a result, he spent much of the rest of the season on the bench.

Toda joined Tottenham Hotspurs on loan from Shimizu S-Pulse in January, but he has yet to make any impact. Aside from two late season appearances, he appears to have been brought to London for the sole purpose of luring Japanese fans to games and to sell shirts.

In Italy, there are rumors that Hidetoshi Nakata may be joining compatriots Inamoto and Toda in England. According to an Asahi Shinbun interview, Parma club Chairman Stefano Tanzi said that there is a "20-30% chance Nakata will transfer." He continued that he had no complaints about Nakata's performance to date, but hinted that the Japan midfielder's fitness was wanting. He noted that there was interest from 5-6 teams. In related news, the Tokyo Chunichi newspaper reported on May 31st that Nakata will indeed move to Chelsea for a $16.35 million transfer fee.

Moved to the right side of midfield this season--an unfamiliar position-- Nakata struggled offensively. While fellow Parma forwards Adriano and Muto went on goal-scoring binges, tallying 15 and 18 goals respectively, Nakata could manage only four goals this year.

Further south, in Reggina, Shunsuke Nakamura scored his seventh goal of the season on a free kick against AS Roma in early May. This was not enough to save Reggina, which lost 3-2. Later in the month, on May 17th, Nakamura assisted in a win against league champion Juventus. Reggina will face Atalanta twice at the end of May to determine which of the two teams will remain in Serie A--and which will be demoted to Serie B. An injury sustained against Juventus kept Nakamura on the bench for three games, and questions about his ability to defend have led to criticism in some quarters.

In Holland, Feyenoord's Shinji Ono was hacked down by Mark van Bommel in a league match against PSV Eindhoven and had to be replaced. The Japan star looks to be out for several weeks, according to coach Bert van Marwijk.

Also, in late May, Ono was named the Asian Player of the Year for 2002. He finished ahead of Fulham's Junichi Inamoto. Ono becomes the third Japanese to win the award, which was inaugurated in 1994. Masami Ihara won in 1995; Hidetoshi Nakata took honors in both 1997 and 1998.

Yanagisawa to Transfer to Sampdoria

Japan's World Cup striker and Kashima Antlers star Atsushi Yanagisawa is set to move to Italy on a one-year loan deal from his J.league side. The twenty-six year-old will become the fifth Japanese player to sign with a Serie A club. He will receive $400,000 for his year abroad, or roughly the same as his J.league paycheck. In the event of a full transfer, Sampdoria would be obligated to pay Kashima $3.5 million.

Yanagisawa has scored nine times--including a lovely strike in a friendly against Italy last year--in 31 caps for the national side. Last season, though, he only found the net seven times in League games; this season he has scored but once.

His appeal for the Italian club may have more to do with his appearance than his footballing skills. With his movie star looks, Yanagisawa is a big favorite among female fans. He will arrive in Italy in early July, and the marketing machine will no doubt start up soon thereafter.

Japanese Economics 101:

World Cup Stadiums in Red

When it was announced Japan would be co-hosting the 2002 World Cup, local governments and construction companies lined up to feed at the troth of stadium construction. This elixir would put Oita on the world map, it would make Sendai prosperous, it would solve all of Saitama's fiscal worries.

With the Cup but a sweet memory now nearly a year old, the hangover is heavy and painful--and showing no sign of abating. Of the 10 stadiums built for World Cup in Japan, only Sapporo Dome and Kobe Wing Stadium are not losing money. The former plays host to a J2 professional soccer team and, starting next year, the Nippon Ham Fighters baseball team will play its home games there. Kobe is home to J1's Vissel Kobe, and it appears to be just barely in the black.

In Saitama, however, Saitama Stadium 2002 has only operated for 36 days since the World Cup and will incur losses of 690 million yen ($5.9 million). Unable to lure nearby Urawa Reds to play most of their home games in the stadium, it may not be able to redeem the bonds used to finance construction of the stadium. This would force Saitama Prefecture to borrow to repay the debt--which would make the loans drag on forever.

Other municipalities cannot even pay for maintenance and upkeep. The average citizen will be footing the bill in higher taxes for decades to come, while construction companies have pocketed an enormous windfall.

Asian Futsal Victim of SARS

2003 All-Japan AET Soccer Tournament Set to Kickoff

The fourth annual All-Japan AET Soccer Tournament will be held in Sugadaira, Nagano, during the second weekend of June. Twenty men's teams and ten women's teams will round out the competition. The 2003 tournament will take place in a lovely mountain setting and promises to be a fun weekend for all. Day 1 will feature the Group Stage, and Day 2 the Tournament Stage.

In the men's division of the Group Stage, five groups of four teams will play on five different fields. The top five teams will be seeded based on results from previous Nagano and Tochigi tournaments and will play in different groups. The remaining 15 teams will be grouped randomly. In every group, teams will face each other once.

The Tournament Stage will consist of a Championship and a Plate Tournament. The 10 teams with the highest point total after the Group Stage will advance to the Championship Tournament; the remaining 10 teams will proceed to the Plate Tournament.

All normal rules of football will apply to the matches. However, there will be no injury time, and "any acts by a team to blatantly waste time will result in 1 point being deducted." In the event of tie after regulation time, a "moving" shootout will ensue. The player has thirty seconds to beat the goalie and score.

In the women's division, there will be two groups of five teams made up of six players each. Each group will be assigned to a pitch that is half the size of a normal field. As in the men's division, the teams will be ranked on the basis of previous tournament results; others will be assigned at random. In every group, teams will play each other once.

Perhaps as important as the actual tournament itself is the post-competition party. The party will be held in a large lobby area of the Hotel Yamabiko after dinner. DJs will be on hand to ensure that, in the words of the tournament web site, "With the sounds of hip hop and house being pumped out all night by the masterful DJ Fergus, this party keeps going until the last person is left standing."

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