This was a suprising article to sumble across. According to the report, Daisuke Matsui (LeMans France) and Yoshito Okubo (Mallorca, Spain) have been registered as members of the JapanNT for the Confederations Cup that is starting on June 15 after the two World Cup qualifiers.
First of all, I am not sure how these reporters find out who is registered or not and whether this is accurate, but if it is true it is going to be rather exciting news for Japanese supporters. Not only are these two extremely popular players from the Olympics squad (U23, 2004), but they have also made a great impact in their respective clubs as Japanese players this past season. Both players debuted on the NT at the Confederations Cup two years ago but Okubo has the most recent contact with the NT -- he played in last year's Singapore game in Japan.
The article asks why they were not called for this week's qualifying round for the World Cup as well. The most reasonable explanation is the experience factor -- the qualifiers are an extremely tense process, where one mistake or one "bad" foul could cost the team crucial points. Though Okubo has the guts and desire to go for goals, he is also known (in the past) to be susceptible to red cards (and temper tantrums) in a game. As for Matsui, he is still a question mark with regard to the NT -- he has not played with the NT in so long it is difficult to predict how he would stand up against these qualifyer opponents. We still don't see a lot of defensive work from him, and physically he may still be comparatively light. But both these players have a certain magic that is undeniable. It may have been interesting to give them the experience of being part of a qualifier team, so they can carry that experience four years down the road to the next WC. But I guess Zico may have felt this was just not the time to add "new" people to the mix -- it is difficult enough already just re-integrating the European-club players that are there.
I really do hope this is not a joke or false reporting...
First of all, I am not sure how these reporters find out who is registered or not and whether this is accurate, but if it is true it is going to be rather exciting news for Japanese supporters. Not only are these two extremely popular players from the Olympics squad (U23, 2004), but they have also made a great impact in their respective clubs as Japanese players this past season. Both players debuted on the NT at the Confederations Cup two years ago but Okubo has the most recent contact with the NT -- he played in last year's Singapore game in Japan.
The article asks why they were not called for this week's qualifying round for the World Cup as well. The most reasonable explanation is the experience factor -- the qualifiers are an extremely tense process, where one mistake or one "bad" foul could cost the team crucial points. Though Okubo has the guts and desire to go for goals, he is also known (in the past) to be susceptible to red cards (and temper tantrums) in a game. As for Matsui, he is still a question mark with regard to the NT -- he has not played with the NT in so long it is difficult to predict how he would stand up against these qualifyer opponents. We still don't see a lot of defensive work from him, and physically he may still be comparatively light. But both these players have a certain magic that is undeniable. It may have been interesting to give them the experience of being part of a qualifier team, so they can carry that experience four years down the road to the next WC. But I guess Zico may have felt this was just not the time to add "new" people to the mix -- it is difficult enough already just re-integrating the European-club players that are there.
I really do hope this is not a joke or false reporting...
Juventus have arrived, and tonight will be their game against Yokohama F Marinos. I'm going to assume that most of the usual suspects from Marinos (minus Nakazawa, of course) are going to be starting. But it will be interesting to see coach Okada's forward selection. Will he start with Kubo or sub him in the second half? It would be extremely valuable to see Kubo play against top players like Juventus to get a feel for how much he's recovered his game since returning from injury. I'm not going to expect a goal from him, but just to see how he moves and makes his decisions on the pitch.
There has been relatively little fanfare for the arrival of Juventus. (Absolutely none for Hamburg, who played against Urawa Reds yesterday and won 2-0.) There was footage from the press conference (Nedved and DelPiero in attendance) on Sport! yesterday, but I was actually expecting more of the crazy hype that we saw with Real Madrid or even Barcelona last year. I guess the difference being Beckham and Ronaldinho... And half the sports writers and camera crews in Japan are off scouting around in UAE and Bahrain for the NT matches, so I guess the networks just didn't have the extra people. Kind of a relief that we aren't embarassing ourselves in front of visiting teams like we have in the past. The press conference was pretty banal, but Juventus were very gracious in their comments. It was the first time for Nedved in Japan, but he said that he was sorry they weren't going to have enough time to really see Japan. Probably one shopping spree is scheduled... Maybe if you camp out in Akihabara (the electronics store town) you may catch them.
As for the Hamburg/Reds game, it was not televised on either regular tv or the net so I only saw about 5 seconds of goal clips. I also heard that Urawa had a hard time populating the stadium -- the attendance was just over ten thousand, which I guess must have been a disappointment for them. The general commentary about Urawa's performance was that they weren't able to make any promising shots on goal. But they did have speed against Hamburg. But Hamburg had both height and a desire to fight at any cost -- Hamburg won the air, and also stopped Urawa's speed by tackling. In other words, Hamburg showed that "pretty" is not necessarily the ideal, and to get results you have to be willing to throw yourself into the game. It would have been interesting to watch -- I do watch Hamburg on cable off and on, so I know the team fairly well (not really a favorite team of mine, but I have the basics down).
The Juventus/Marinos game, as I said before, will be televised (delayed video broadcast at midnight) on the network tv, but you can also watch it live on the net. It's free, and the registration process if very simple. I'm not sure whether people accessing from overseas can also hook up, but I haven't read anything to the contrary so I think anyone will be able to watch. If you need help with the Japanese in the registration process leave a comment or send an email -- I'll walk you through it. I'll come back with my impression of the game afterwards, but I want to just plain enjoy the show. Hopefully it will be a good match with exciting play from both sides!
There has been relatively little fanfare for the arrival of Juventus. (Absolutely none for Hamburg, who played against Urawa Reds yesterday and won 2-0.) There was footage from the press conference (Nedved and DelPiero in attendance) on Sport! yesterday, but I was actually expecting more of the crazy hype that we saw with Real Madrid or even Barcelona last year. I guess the difference being Beckham and Ronaldinho... And half the sports writers and camera crews in Japan are off scouting around in UAE and Bahrain for the NT matches, so I guess the networks just didn't have the extra people. Kind of a relief that we aren't embarassing ourselves in front of visiting teams like we have in the past. The press conference was pretty banal, but Juventus were very gracious in their comments. It was the first time for Nedved in Japan, but he said that he was sorry they weren't going to have enough time to really see Japan. Probably one shopping spree is scheduled... Maybe if you camp out in Akihabara (the electronics store town) you may catch them.
As for the Hamburg/Reds game, it was not televised on either regular tv or the net so I only saw about 5 seconds of goal clips. I also heard that Urawa had a hard time populating the stadium -- the attendance was just over ten thousand, which I guess must have been a disappointment for them. The general commentary about Urawa's performance was that they weren't able to make any promising shots on goal. But they did have speed against Hamburg. But Hamburg had both height and a desire to fight at any cost -- Hamburg won the air, and also stopped Urawa's speed by tackling. In other words, Hamburg showed that "pretty" is not necessarily the ideal, and to get results you have to be willing to throw yourself into the game. It would have been interesting to watch -- I do watch Hamburg on cable off and on, so I know the team fairly well (not really a favorite team of mine, but I have the basics down).
The Juventus/Marinos game, as I said before, will be televised (delayed video broadcast at midnight) on the network tv, but you can also watch it live on the net. It's free, and the registration process if very simple. I'm not sure whether people accessing from overseas can also hook up, but I haven't read anything to the contrary so I think anyone will be able to watch. If you need help with the Japanese in the registration process leave a comment or send an email -- I'll walk you through it. I'll come back with my impression of the game afterwards, but I want to just plain enjoy the show. Hopefully it will be a good match with exciting play from both sides!
The four additional players coming from the European clubs have arrived at the NT camp in the UAE, and all players (minus Takahara who is sitting this one out in Japan) are now present and accounted for. Well, it's about time!
But before the above four arrived, the training focused mainly on confirming all the defensive strategies, etc. This is the priority for Japan right now. There was a speculatory article in sports papers yesterday detailing Zico's change in coaching attitude and the question of how he will be using Hide Nakata in this next game. Here's a link to the translation of the article in English (read post #7).
Last night the sports news showed clips from the training yesterday -- with Nakamura and Nakata joining the starting eleven. From the looks of it, Zico will be cutting out one forward and putting Nakata in as an offensive midfielder next to (or slightly in front of) Nakamura. Suzuki will most probably be starting as the single forward at the top. Everyone was drenched in sweat (the humidity over there is much higher than I had expected it would be) but from the player comments it sounds like they are focused.
As for what I think of this altered 3-4-2-1 formation, I think it's fine. Japan's strength is in the midfielders and this game is one where the defensive responsibilities is the priority. With Nakata present alonside Nakamura, the two will be able to run interference for each other -- Nakamura tends to get heavily/roughly targeted by opponents. Putting these two quality players up front may also keep the team from unnecessarily losing the ball on the attack. They will still need the other midfielders (the sides and the dmfs) to come up to support on the offense, but their ability to hold onto the ball will enable the others time to come up without worrying about leaving the backside less populated. Nakazawa has returned to the starting group, which is a plus for both offense and defense. As for getting goals, well, it's hard to say exactly what will happen -- whether there is enough time for this trio up front to gel with each other and with the midfielders behind them. We can only maintain faith.
I mentioned in a previous entry that during the Bahrain home game against Iran the pitch was so bumpy that all players were having difficulty with possession. It sounds like those complaints made it to the ears of the groundskeepers -- apparently the pitch was so unlevel in that previous game that there was a 10 cm difference between the highest and lowest areas. They have announced that the ground has been leveled and made flat -- which may mean a very speedy ball. The pitch is hard, too, which will add to the shock on the players' bodies adding to fatigue. It will be important for our team to get used to the pitch and think of how they are going to use their energy during the full 90+ minutes.
The team will leave UAE today and head over to Bahrain.
But before the above four arrived, the training focused mainly on confirming all the defensive strategies, etc. This is the priority for Japan right now. There was a speculatory article in sports papers yesterday detailing Zico's change in coaching attitude and the question of how he will be using Hide Nakata in this next game. Here's a link to the translation of the article in English (read post #7).
Last night the sports news showed clips from the training yesterday -- with Nakamura and Nakata joining the starting eleven. From the looks of it, Zico will be cutting out one forward and putting Nakata in as an offensive midfielder next to (or slightly in front of) Nakamura. Suzuki will most probably be starting as the single forward at the top. Everyone was drenched in sweat (the humidity over there is much higher than I had expected it would be) but from the player comments it sounds like they are focused.
As for what I think of this altered 3-4-2-1 formation, I think it's fine. Japan's strength is in the midfielders and this game is one where the defensive responsibilities is the priority. With Nakata present alonside Nakamura, the two will be able to run interference for each other -- Nakamura tends to get heavily/roughly targeted by opponents. Putting these two quality players up front may also keep the team from unnecessarily losing the ball on the attack. They will still need the other midfielders (the sides and the dmfs) to come up to support on the offense, but their ability to hold onto the ball will enable the others time to come up without worrying about leaving the backside less populated. Nakazawa has returned to the starting group, which is a plus for both offense and defense. As for getting goals, well, it's hard to say exactly what will happen -- whether there is enough time for this trio up front to gel with each other and with the midfielders behind them. We can only maintain faith.
I mentioned in a previous entry that during the Bahrain home game against Iran the pitch was so bumpy that all players were having difficulty with possession. It sounds like those complaints made it to the ears of the groundskeepers -- apparently the pitch was so unlevel in that previous game that there was a 10 cm difference between the highest and lowest areas. They have announced that the ground has been leveled and made flat -- which may mean a very speedy ball. The pitch is hard, too, which will add to the shock on the players' bodies adding to fatigue. It will be important for our team to get used to the pitch and think of how they are going to use their energy during the full 90+ minutes.
The team will leave UAE today and head over to Bahrain.
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