Japan had one pre-East Asia Cup friendly. Against Cameroon in Oita, Japan held on for a 0-0 draw against the African side. Hidetoshi Nakata, Keisuke Tsuboi, and Naohiro Takahara in particular put in strong performances.
In the recently completed East Asia Cup, Japan finished second to winner South Korea on goal difference. Playing without its European Quartet—Hidetoshi Nakata, Junichi Inamoto, Shunsuke Nakamura, and Shinji Ono—Japan looked listless against Hong Kong, which is currently ranked some 100 places below the hosts. After defeating China courtesy of a brace from Yokohama F. Marinos forward Tatsuhiko Kubo, Japan just squeaked by Hong Kong 1-0 thanks to a questionable penalty. The final match was played against South Korea, which also had won both of its previous matches. Because Korea came into the match with more goals than Japan, the hosts had to win to take the tournament. Following an early sending off of Yoshito Okubo for two yellow cards, though, Japan came under repeated attack in the first half. Although Korea never came close to scoring, the Red Devils thoroughly dominated the half. In the second half, coach Zico subbed in Masashi Motoyama, who once he found his legs created many opportunities. Japan had the better half in spite of being a down a man. Kubo, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, and Motoyama all came close to scoring. In the end, though, Japan once again could not find the net, and South Korea held on for the draw—and the championship on the basis of goal difference.
Player Report Cards
Alex Santos: Against Hong Kong, Santos was a constant threat. Netted
from the penalty spot to win the game. Strong showing against eventual
winner South Korea.
Keisuke Tsuboi: Very solid on the back line. Closed down Ahn Jung
Hwan and the rest of Korea's front line.
Yuji Nakazawa: A strong performance against China. Good half against
Korea. Making a case for a permanent starting slot.
Yoshito Okubo: The darling of the Japanese media has yet to score
in 14 national team appearances. Worse yet, he was carded twice
in the early part of the Korea match - once for a thuggish lunge,
the second for an obvious dive only minutes later - and was
thus sent off early. This left Japan to fend for itself a man down
for most of the match. Starting to become embarrassing.
Tatsuhiko Kubo: The diffident forward scored twice against China,
came close on many occasions against Hong Kong, and hit the post
against Korea.
Mitsuo Ogasawara: The tiny midfielder turned in two stellar performances.
Playing hurt against South Korea, though, he was rarely effective.
The pools for the first-round Asian qualifying tournament for the 2006 Germany World Cup were announced in late November. The Japanese national team will soon take the first of many steps on the long road to book its spot in Germany.
Japan was drawn into Group 3 with Singapore, India, and Oman for
the first round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers. The first match will be played at home on February 18th versus Oman. Thirty-six
Asian countries have been placed into eight groups. Group winners
go on to a final round of matches. These eight countries are placed into two groups of four, from which the top two teams of each group
automatically qualify to play in Germany. The number three teams
from both groups must play a final match to earn the right to play against the fourth place finisher from CONCACAF (North American,
Central American + Caribbean Zone). The winner of this match earns a spot in the World Cup.
In February, Japan will face Malaysia and Iraq in friendlies as
a warm-up for its qualifying games.
The J.League wound up its season over the last weekend of November.
And what a finish it was. The top four teams faced off in head-to-head
matches on a rainy, miserable November afternoon. In Saitama, Kashima Antlers appeared headed for a win—and the title—until
Emerson swooped in to score in injury time to pull the game even
at 2-2. The Urawa Reds 22-year-old Brazilian forward had until that
point had a poor match—diving, complaining, and even missing
a penalty. The Reds though played the more interesting football
and got and deserved the tie.
Farther south, in Yokohama, another last minute goal settled the
outcome of this year's championship. Another injury time goal, this
one by Tatsuhiko Kubo, put the Marinos up 2-1—and, thanks
to the Antlers's draw, clinched the second-stage title for
Yokohama Coach Takeshi Okada. Down a goal and a man—keeper
Tetsuya Enomoto was sent off early for knocking down Jubilo forward
Rodrigo Gral—the Marinos looked set to lose to Jubilo and
not take the second stage title. The Marinos though pulled even
at the 50-minute mark from a goal by Marquinhos. Then Kubo put the
Marinos ahead by jumping over a defender and pounding in a header
from far out.
At the other end of the table Kyoto Purple Sanga were rightly relegated, in less than eleven months the Kansai-based team went from winning the Emperor's Cup on New Year's Day to finishing dead last in the 2003 J1 campaign. Kyoto's only professional sports franchise thus falls once again into the lower division. For a city of its size, population, economic clout, culture, history—and lack of any other professional teams—this is a disgrace.
An awful multi-purpose stadium filled with fair-weather fans supporting a team financed by know-nothing, penny-pinching sponsors got what it deserved: a second-rate team that conceded more than twice the number of goals it produced. Two good managers were unceremoniously fired: Gert Engels two weeks into the summer break; his replacement, Pim Verbeeck, with but two games to go in the season. The caretaker manager, the curmudgeonly GM Bunji Kimura, started unseasoned players in the final two matches, including a goaltender—and must shoulder much of the blame for his role in both the managerial firings and in his final desperate team selections.
Joining Sanga in J2 next season will be Vegalta Sendai and their superb fans. Replacing them will be Albirex Niigata, one of the best supported clubs in the country and Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
With the J.League 2003 regular season now finished, eyes will turn this month to the Emperor's Cup. Defending champions Kyoto Purple Sanga crashed out in a 2-0 loss to newly-promoted Hiroshima Sanfrecce. The month-long event climaxes on New Year's Day, 2004, with the Final at Tokyo's National Stadium.
In mid-December the J.League held its annual awards ceremony. Urawa Reds forward Emerson took MVP honors. The best 11 were:
GK: Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya)
DF: Keisuke Tsuboi (Urawa)
Dutra (Marinos)
Yuji Nakazawa (Marinos)
MF: Mitsuo Ogasawara (Kashima)
Daisuke Oku (Marinos)
Takashi Fukunishi (Jubilo)
Yasuhito Endo (Gamba)
FW: Tatsuhiko Kubo (Marinos)
Emerson (Reds)
Ueslei (Nagoya)
In other news, former Purple Sanga coach Gert Engels has been hired to assist fellow German Guido Buchwald who will take over at Urawa next season. Buchwald, 42, spent three and a half years at the club as a player until 1997. The former German international takes the place of Hans Ooft.
Vissel Kobe are in deep financial trouble and could go into administration if the team cannot cut its wage bill and attract new backing.
J-League MVP Emerson had his Nabisco Cup winner's medal returned to him by an anonymous fan after it was snatched from his neck in the post-match celebrations following Urawa Reds' 4-0 win over Kashima Antlers.
Kawaguchi Back on Bench
Former national keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi saw no action in the
last month: Four matches, zero starts, zero time on the field.
Inamoto Still Trying
Fulham's Junichi Inamoto had two starts in four matches. Against
Charlton, he started for the first time in 4 games.
Tottenham's Toda to ADO Den Haag
Kazuyuki Toda will not get a contract extension at his Premier League
club. He looks set instead to become the latest Japanese to ply his trade in Holland. He will be on a ten-day trial in January.
Parma's Hidetoshi Nakata: Doesn't Fit
At Parma, Hide Nakata started twice but still is out of sorts. Using
him as a defensive midfielder, Parma doesn't know quite what to do with their high-priced Japanese import.
Sampdoria's Atsushi Yanagisawa
National team striker Atsushi Yanagisawa got in as a sub in two
league matches. Against Ancona he got his first assist.
Reggina's Shunsuke Nakamura: Home for the Holidays
Shunsuku returned to Japan from Italy in December to have tests
on his left knee. That and lower back problems will cause him to miss the final two matches of the year.
Belgian Block: Takayuki Suzuki
Takayuki Suzuki scored his third goal this season for Heusden-Zolder in a Belgium Cup win over Lokeren. "I'm glad I played aggressively
up front and was able to score. Now I will be able to relax and
enjoy the break," said the on-loan striker.
Hamburger Naohiro Takahara: One Goal
Nakahara got his name on the scoresheet for the first time in 15 games. Against Eintracht Frankfurt in a mid-December fixture, he
headed home in the 51st minute.
Shinji Ono: Starring at Feyenoord
Shinji Ono had a stellar month. Aside from a small blip—a
trip to the hospital when he was nailed in the liver by a teammate's
blast—Ono had a hand in all three goals against Vitesse Arnhem
on November 23rd. His visionary passing created these goals. On November 28th, though, Feyenoord was eliminated from the UEFA Cup
after losing on aggregate to FK Telpice.
Utrecht's Toshiya Fujita: Japan Bound
Reports have Fujita back at Jubilo as of January. Utrecht has decided against renewing the thirty-two year-old's contract.
Nozomi Hiroyama at Montpelier
Coming back from a niggling knee injury, Hiroyama is fighting to
get back his starting spot at the mid-level French first division team. Against Nice, on December 7th, he was not even on the bench as a sub.
The Argentine David slayed an Italian Goliath. This year's Toyota
Cup was a shock win for Boca Juniors. Against the cast of millionaire internationals that play for European Champions League winner AC Milan, Boca Juniors won on penalties after the game ended 1-1 at regulation time. The pride of Buenos Aires takes the world club championship back to South America for the first time
in three years.
AC Milan went up on Denmark international Jon Dahl Tomassan's early
goal. Boca equalized shortly after on a goal from Matias Donnet. AC Milan's Brazilian superstar Kaka thumped a shot off the post just a minute later. After this point, though, Milan had few opportunities.
As the game wore on, Boca actually dominated, pushing forward in extra time as Milan looked increasingly tired. Boca swarmed on defense, closing down the prodigious talents of Clarence Seedorf, Kaka, and Andrea Pirlo in midfield. The latest claimant to the Maradona mantle is 19-year-old Carlos Teves. He came on as a sub for Boca in the
73rd minute - affording few opportunities to show off his prolific
talents - disappointing the fans in Yokohama who had waited eagerly for his appearance.
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