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Japanese Soccer News 5 - August/September 2003

Japan National Team: Women

Japan opened its Women's World Cup campaign on September 20th with a 6-0 thrashing of Argentina. Mio Otani tallied three goals in the second half. In the team’s second match, it fell to powerhouse Germany 3-0. A 3-1 defeat to Canada meant Japan failed to qualify for the quarter finals.

Japan National Team: Men

With two months off to lick the wounds from a miserable showing in France at the Confederations Cup in June, Japan’s senior men’s side faced Nigeria in Tokyo on the 20th of August. Marred by the absence of many of the Super Eagles’s best players, Japan won convincingly 3-0. This was the first win in seven tries on home soil under Coach Zico. For Japan, Hamburg’s Naohiro Takahara got on the scoresheet twice, with Gamba Osaka’s Yasuhito Endo rounding out the scoring.

Following the match, it was reported that the Japan Football Association lodged a complaint to its counterpart in Nigeria over the absence of, among other marquee players, Arsenal’s Nwanko Kanu and Bolton’s Jay-Jay Okocha. Only four members of the 2002 World Cup squad made the trip, and just fifteen players in total came to Japan.

On a September 10th match against a nearly full-strength Senegal held in Niigata, Japan lost 1-0. An athletic header from Baba Diop early on sealed the match for the visitors. Japan, however, controlled the midfield throughout much of the match and could take some consolation in a solid effort. Particularly in the second half, Japan looked dangerous. Were it not for the poor form of Atsushi Yanagisawa and Junichi Inamoto, in particular, the result may have been quite different. With the exception of the August Nigeria match, Japan has been impotent up front; this game was no different. Both Yanagisawa and Inamoto had clear shots on goal from close range. Both missed wildly. For the visitors, Henri Camara was a constant menace to the left side. Under Zico, the Blues now have three wins and three draws against six losses.

The senior men’s side will next face Tunisia away on October 8th, and then have a friendly against Romania on October 11th in Bucharest.

Player Report Cards Versus Senegal:
Hidetoshi Nakata: Solid performance, the leader on the field
Shunsuke Nakamura: Tricky left foot, can’t defend
Alex Santos: A few good runs up the left side, can’t defend
Junichi Inamoto: The virtual midfielder, invisible for much of the match, only to reappear late in the second half just in time to blow two very good chances up front
Keisuke Tsuboi: very solid on defense, good match
Hitoshi Sogahata: several brilliant saves held the game close
Yoshito Okubo: much heralded forward made no impact at all

Japan Olympic Team

Japan lost again to South Korea, this time in Seoul in the last warm-up prior to next March’s Olympic qualifiers. Kim Dong Jin scored twice for the home side, mainly due to poor defending. Japan showed some fight in the second half, and managed to pull back to 2-1, which is how the match ended. The game, however, was like the previous Japan-Korea under-22 match: thoroughly dominated by the Red Devils. Once again boy wonder Yoshito Okubo was invisible for much of the match.

Soccer Science: Beckham’s Talent Under the Microscope

A group of Taito Bunka University professors in Tokyo have founded the “Japan Football Study Group” to scientifically study and analyze--and contribute to improving--the power and skill of the players. More than 300 academics from around Japan working in fields such as sports medicine, engineering, and nutrition will pool their resources to improve training methodology. Among other aspects of the game, Real Madrid’s David Beckham’s free kicks will be dissected by our experts. The ultimate goal is to put in place a scientific regime at the youth level of the J.League.

J.League Roundup

Pim Verbeek

After the eighth round of matches of the second stage, Yokohama Marinos sit atop the table with 15 points on four wins. Close on their heels heels, JEF United is in second place also with 15 points, but trailing Yokohama on goal difference. Urawa Reds are starting to pick up steam. Their wonderful Brazilian forward Emerson is now fully fit, and, literally, running opposing defenders ragged. They are tied with Kashima at 14 points.
At the other end of the table, Vegalta is leading the race to relegation. The Sendai squad now has but four points from four draws and four losses. Kansai has the honor of hosting two of the teams vying for a space in J2 next season. Kobe Vissel has imploded, and is just above Vegalta on goal difference. In a real sign of desperation, they have brought 34-year-old Bismarck back from Brazil. The former Verdy and Kashima star is well above game weight and fared badly in his first match. Rumors are circulating that relegation could spell the end to the club. In spite of sporting perhaps the most attractive soccer facility in Japan and a loyal following in the port city, the club continues to find creative ways to lose. A bit farther inland and north, Kyoto Purple Sanga is at least putting up a fight under new manager Pim Verbeek. They have won twice and drawn three times, which has earned them 9 crucial points—which they will need after a dreadful first stage. With Teruaki Kurobe back and fit, they should avoid relegation.

Albirex Niigata Singapore Bound

In other news, it was announced that Japanese club Albirex Niigata is expected to join Singapore's S-League from next year, making them the second foreign club in the competition.
Singapore's Straits Times reported on Thursday that the signing of J-League division two club Albirex had already been completed. They would join China's Sinchi, which joined the S-League this year, and is the first professional Chinese club to compete full-time outside the mainland.
With debts mounting, the Football Association of Singapore hired consultants Deloitte Touche to study the viability of the league. They advised shrinking it to 10 teams. This may spell the end for some local clubs.

Europe-based Players

Kawaguchi to Denmark

Former national keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi ended two years at Portsmouth, where he saw little playing time, in a move to Danish Super League side FC Nordsjaelland. He moved in a two-year deal to the suburban Copenhagen team. Yoshi fell out of favor in his first season in England when he conceded 25 goals in just 12 matches. This landed him on the bench, where he languished for the next year plus.

Inamoto Opens Account

Junichi Inamoto found the net against Middlesborough in an August 16th Premier match to start his second season at Fulham with a bang. Following a late August match against Tottenham—where compatriot Kazuyuki Toda is perched on the bench—Inamoto was the recipient of great praise from manager Chris Coleman: “Ina was outstanding today.”

Yanagisawa Debuts for Sampdoria

National team striker and teenage heart-throb Atsushi Yanagisawa debuted for Italian side Sampdoria in Serie A in an August match-up against Reggina. He came on in the second half and nearly scored two minutes into his playing time. Fellow national teammate Shunsuke Nakamura came on for Reggina late in the second half, but made no impact on the match, which ended in a draw. However, in a September 22nd match against Brescia, Shunsuke scored twice.

Suzuki finds Belgian Net

After more than a year of life in the Belgian First Division, Japan striker Takayuki Suzuki has finally scored. After being dismissed from Genk after a poor year, he was picked up by Heusden-Zolder, where he is now seeing playing time. In spite of his goal, his new team lost 4-2 to Anderlecht—and still has yet to win.

Shinji Ono scores in UEFA Cup

Feyenoord, winner of the 2002 UEFA Cup, got off to a good start of its 2003 campaign by defeating Austria’s Kaernten 2-1. Shinji Ono scored the winning goal with 13 minutes remaining.

Utrecht’s Toshiya Fujita

Also in Holland, former Jubilo star Toshiya Fujita started for Utrecht in a September 25th UEFA Cup match. According to reports, he “came off after 77 minutes without any scoring chances.”

Parma’s Hidetoshi Nakata

At Parma, Hide Nakata is still starting and getting playing time at Parma. Australian superstar Marco Bresciano is now leading that team in the midfield, scoring twice to lead Parma over Lazio 3-2.

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