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Japanese Soccer News 4 - July 2003

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Japan National Team: Women

By defeating Mexico 2-0 in a mid-July playoff, the Japan women's team has qualified for the World Cup to be held in the United States this fall. Homare Sawa, who plays for the Atlanta Heat in the US Women's League, opened the scoring from close range on an Emi Yamamoto cross at the eleventh minute of the second half. Having drawn the previous week in Mexico City, Japan needed only to hold on to the lead to book a spot in the US tournament. With four minutes remaining, Japan ended any hopes for the Mexican side as Karina Maruyama tapped home a goal to clinch the match. This will be Japan’s fourth consecutive appearance at the Women's World Cup.

Japan National Team: Men

Following a dismal showing in France at the Confederations Cup in late June, the national squad enjoyed the month off. In August, there is one home friendly lined up: on the 20th in Tokyo against Nigeria. Featuring a side full of players hardened in European leagues, the Nigerians will be a good test for Coach Zico’s charges. With no previous coaching experience, Zico‘s tactics and lineups and use of relatives and friends from Brazil and, more than anything, results are coming under increasing scrutiny.

Japan Olympic Team

Japan held on to tie South Korea's under-22 squad 1-1 in a run-up to next March's qualifying matches for Athens. The Koreans won the July 23rd contest in every respect but the final score. Except for a few flashes of quality play - a header from Cerezo Osaka's bright young thing Yoshito Okubo that crashed into the Korean cross bar - Japan seemed flustered by the constant pressure and the superior play of the Koreans. Held in a driving rain at Tokyo's National Stadium, Korea went up 1-0 when Kashima Antlers defender Takeshi Aoki's awful pass was picked up by Choi Tae Uk in the Japan half. He dribbled unhindered to just outside the box, from where he launched a bullet that Omiya Ardija keeper Eiji Kawashima flailed lamely at as it flew directly over his head and into the net. Japan equalized in the second half when a Naohiro Ishikawa's cross fortuitously ricocheted off defender Cho Byung Kuk's leg and into the net. Korea dominated the remainder of the match. In particular, Choi Song Kuk created many chances - and Japan was very fortunate to come away with a draw.
In contrast to Choi, Japan's man up front, Okubo, was largely invisible for much of the match. Though his every move was tracked by a special "Okubo Camera," there was in the end little to watch. Japan may now be hoping to be drawn into a different division from the Red Devils for next spring's matches.

East Asian Football Championship

Originally scheduled to be held in May, the SARS-postponed East Asian Football Championship has been rescheduled for December. Featuring host Japan, South Korea, China, and Hong Kong, matches will be held on the 4th, 7th, and 11th of December. This scheduling may conflict with J.League championship playoffs - set to be played on the same dates - and thus present a potential headache for Coach Zico. Unless one team can win both stages of the 2003 season - as Jubilo Iwata did last year - and thus alleviating the
need for the playoff, key players may be unavailable for the tournament. To get around this, Zico hopes to call up many of his Europe-based players, including Hidetoshi Nakata, Shunsuke Nakamura, Junichi Inamoto, Shinji Ono, and Naohiro Takahara.

Feeding at the Far East Troth: Becks & Ollie Insatiable

It's official. David Beckham was the top TV ad man in Japan last year. The Asahi Shinbun newspaper noted that, according to the Publishers Association of Japan, Beckham had deals with ten companies touting a total of 25 different products. In terms of total number of appearances and overall impact, the Real Madrid midfielder ranked number one. Following him was Japan international and Feyenoord star Shinji Ono, who signed with nine companies. Rounding out the top three was the Seattle Mariners's Ichiro, who signed with seven companies. In other Beckham news, one Japanese sponsor is dealing with a headache stemming from his recent transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid. Since signing with Vodaphone and its Japanese subsidiary, J-Phone, Beckham can be seen on signs and posters throughout Japan - in Man
United's red kit. Because of the transfer, though, any such sign will have to be taken down and replaced with Becks in unaffiliated casual wear. Work began at the end of July.
Oliver Kahn has also been quite a busy boy in Japan. While a bill aiming to strengthen measures against ubiquitous Japanese loan companies - tame-seeming business fronts for Yakuza organized crime organizations, and the source of many well-publicized suicides and much misery - is currently wending its way through the Japanese Diet, German superstar Oliver Kahn's fierce mug can be seen making a pitch for one such company. Kahn has signed with the wonderfully named No loan.com (his Japan-only television commercial can be downloaded from the site: www.noloan.com) Next to his scowl is the very trustworthy "Zero!" in bold katakana syllabary, the Japanese script for foreign words. Free money indeed. The current bill in the Diet - the Moneylending Control Law - was approved by the House of Representatives on July 24th. It was passed by a unanimous vote and is expected to be passed by the House of Councillors at the end of July. Among other provisions, it would invalidate any loan contract exceeding the legal limit of 109.5%. Violators could be fined up to 100 million yen ($846,000). Also, any firms with links to gangsters could be rejected by financial regulators when they apply for a license.

More Becks News: He's Back (again)

Sporting the elegant all-white Real Madrid jersey, David Beckham was in Tokyo for an August 5th friendly against FC Tokyo, which the guests took 3-0. As part of an Asian money-grab, Real swung through China and Japan prior to the opening of La Liga matches in Spain. Rumored to have charged host cities $2 million for the right to have the Spanish champions perform, Real is hoping to recoup some of the money it spent on acquiring El David. Beckham was most recently in Tokyo in June promoting himself and signing lucrative ad deals. On this trip, Beckham came to play. Money, however, was never far from anyone's mind. Several days prior to the match itself, the crowd at a ninety-minute open training session at the Tokyo Dome topped the 43,000 that turned out for an NFL game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Jets that took place the night before at the exact same venue. And at 3,000 yen ($25) a head. For the big event itself, all 55,000 tickets sold out in 15 minutes. And, as though scripted, Beckham opened scoring with a brilliant free kick that curled its way into the net. In addition to scoring his first goal for "Los Galacticos," Becks also earned a yellow card for lunging at Yuta Baba to prevent the FC Tokyo midfielder from going in on goal. Beckham nearly scored earlier in the match, but keeper Yoichi Doi made a nice save. Santiago Solari and an expanding Ronaldo rounded out the scoring in the match.

More Financial News: Nakata Gets a Sweetener

Parma star Hidetoshi Nakata has been hired by Japanese confectionary maker Tohato in a bid to revive the firm's flagging fortunes. He will serve as a "part-time executive" and "chief branding officer," and will take part in twice a month conference calls from Italy. His role will be primarily to help the company brand its goods. He will not appear in any ads, but has been retained on a three-year deal for 12 million yen ($100,000). Tohato filed for court protection from its creditors last year. Its liabilities are estimated at 46 billion yen ($389 million), mainly in the form of real estate deals gone bad.
In other Nakata news, a British paper reported that Serie A's Parma is ready to let go its Japanese star for a bargain-basement price to Leeds United in the English Premier League. Groaning under the weight of debt totaling 78.9 million UK pounds ($125 million), Leeds is hoping to persuade Japanese companies to help bankroll Nakata's weekly salary of $72,000. Leeds hopes that by signing Nakata it could be begin to dig its way out of debt through replica sales and sponsorship deals.

J.League Roundup

Yokohama Marinos downed Vissel Kobe 3-0 on August 2nd to take the first stage of the 2003 J.League season. This is the third time the Mariners have won a stage title. After 15 matches, the Cafu-less Mariners sit at the top of the table with 32 points. Jubilo is a point back in second place, with JEF United rounding out the top three finishers with 27 points. At the other end of the table, Kyoto Purple gave new manager Pim Verbeeck, the Dutchman hired to replace Gert Engels in July, his first victory as they defeated Kashima Antlers 3-1 at home. The former assistant to Guus Hiddink when he led Korea to its best ever World Cup result last summer, "Pim-san" is no doubt encouraged by the two goals from Teruaki Kurobe, who returned to the starting lineup from an injury he sustained against Kobe early in the first stage. The team, though, is still mired in last place with only 10 points on three wins and a tie - and looks destined to fall to the second division. The second stage starts up in two weeks on August 16th. Since dropping extra time at the beginning of this season, goals have actually increased in the J.League this year. Through the eleventh week of the first stage, 37 more goals had been recorded. Some coaches have surmised that as a result of earlier substitutions - and players going all out for 90 minutes instead of saving themselves for extra time in the event of a tie - may be resulting in more goals. The joint top-scorers after the first stage are Jubilo's Rodrigo Gral and JEF's Choi Yong Soo both with twelve. Yoshito Okubo (Cerezo Osaka) and Tatsuhiko Kubo (Yokohama F. Marinos) are the top Japanese marksmen with eight.
Nagoya Grampus 8 coach Zdenko Verdenik paid the price for his team's heavy 4-1 home defeat against Tokyo Verdy which put them out of contention for the first stage title. The dour 53-year-old Slovenian (who was previously head coach at Verdy) was sacked after an uninspiring stint at the Toyota-backed club. The Brazilian Nelsinho takes over a team struggling to recapture the form it showed before Arsene Wenger left to take over at Arsenal, despite the financial backing provided by Japan's largest company.

Europe-based Players

After being released in June by FC Genk of Belgium's first division, Japan international and ex-Kashima Antler Takayuki Suzuki is headed back to Belgium. Though he failed to impress in a one-year loan deal to Genk, it appears that K Heusden-Zolder, which was recently promoted to the same first division of Belgian soccer, does appear to want the services of the bleached-blond forward.
Former national team midfielder Nozomi Hiroyama completed a transfer from Braga to Montpelier, making him the first Japanese player in the French first division. In the Portuguese first division he saw little playing time due to an injury and is looking to increase appearances for both his new club team and the national squad. He has played for JEF United in the J.League and also had a spell in Paraguay with Cerro Porteno.
Jubilo midfielder Toshiya Fujita will be joining Shinji Ono in the Dutch League next season when the former J.League Player of the Year signed with Utrecht.
National team striker Naohiro Takahara scored in a July 29th Bundesliga match, helping Hamburg to victory over Dortmund in a 4-2 victory in a German League Cup final. Takahara nearly scored in the first minute, but Borussia Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller came up with a brilliant save. In the 17th minute, however, Taka beat Weidenfeller to put Hamburg 3-0 up. Dortmund fought back, but Takahara and company held on for the win. Despite his goal, Takahara is still struggling to establish a starting role in Hamburg's line-up.

AUGUST

02 August Saturday

Vegalta Sendai 1 vs Kashiwa Reysol 2
JEF Ichihara 1 vs Urawa Reds 2
Tokyo Verdy 2 vs Gamba Osaka 3
Yokohama F. Marinos 3 vs Vissel Kobe 0
Jubilo Iwata 1 vs FC Tokyo 0
Kyoto Purple Sanga 3 vs Kashima Antlers 1
Cerezo Osaka 2 vs Nagoya Grampus 1
Trinita Oita 0 vs Shimizu S-Pulse 0

09 August Saturday

JOMO ALLSTAR SOCCER - J.East 3 v J.West 1
Sapporo Dome

16 August Saturday

Kashima Antlers 1 vs Nagoya Grampus 0
FC Tokyo 2 vs Cerezo Osaka 1
Urawa Reds 3 vs Jubilo Iwata 1
Kashiwa Reysol 2 vs Kyoto Purple Sanga 1
Yokohama F. Marinos 2 vs Tokyo Verdy 2
Shimizu S-Pulse 2 vs Vegalta Sendai 2

17 August Sunday

Gamba Osaka 1 vs Trinita Oita 0
Vissel Kobe 0 vs JEF Ichihara 1

23 August Saturday

24 August Sunday

Vegalta Sendai vs Vissel Kobe
Tokyo Verdy vs Kashima Antlers

30 August Saturday

Kashima Antlers vs Trinita Oita
Urawa Reds vs Vissel Kobe
Kashiwa Reysol vs Gamba Osaka
FC Tokyo vs Yokohama F. Marinos
Shimizu S-Pulse vs Tokyo Verdy
Nagoya Grampus vs JEF Ichihara
Kyoto Purple Sanga vs Jubilo Iwata
Cerezo Osaka vs Vegalta Sendai

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