As most of you have heard already, Juventus beat Marinos 1-0 (a goal by Del Piero in the first half). The first half hour was pretty much all about Juventus, but it was also a very concentrated effort by Marinos on defense. As could be expected, the accuracy and quality of the Juventus forward-three was evident despite their travel fatigue and jetlag. It seemed that Juventus were pretty confident in their technique and used that to their advantage. However, Marinos made a solid effort on defense -- despite countless attacks by Juventus (and really high-quality ones at that), Marinos held firm. The goal by Del Piero was off a cross that was deflected by defender Kawai -- but the ball dropped quietly right in front of Del Piero for the shot.
The remaining 60 minutes was much more exciting though. Marinos started to pick up their energy, and made more ambitious/confident plays. I think most people expected it to be another star-euro-club-vs-j-club atmosphere, with lots of smiling and playfulness, where it was all about the visiting team's star players and multi-goals. Juventus was missing a ridiculous number of top players due to NT obligations, and had invited several players from other Italian teams like Messina and Brescia. But this turned out to be a game full of fighting spirit and serious play from both sides. There were even a number of "fights" between players of the teams. In the final minutes, you could see Juventus Kapo and Turam arguing with each other -- the last ten minutes saw many good chances from Marinos, and you could almost taste a goal coming; one free kick ended in a goal for Marinos but the whistle had blown right before Kawai had tapped the shot in with his heel.
On the Marinos side, returning forward Kubo started and had two good chances but he was not quite up to his potential (though overall I don't think many Marinos supporters should/would be disappointed by his performance). Dutra on the left side, Oku and his sub Ohashi in the middle, and forward Sakata all had some fine moments. I was also interested to see Yamase, who had relatively recently joined the starting group after transferring from Reds and recovering from a very long injury. Matsuda was another focal point -- usually he is the one to get overly excitable, but this game he was extremely focused and diffused many close Juventus chances. He wasn't distracted by little things and was tough but cool -- kind of inspiring to see.
Actually it was a relief to see Marinos play with this much concentration and spirit -- during the league season so far, Marinos players were having a hard time finding joy in playing. The team were missing many top players, two of the NT members were shuttling back and forth between both teams, and the addition of the ACL group games added further strain. (For teams like Juventus, this may be nothing to gripe about, but for J-league teams it can be a hard blow to overall performance.) The mood had seemed to be "god, not another game.." and their results reflected that attitude. They weren't enjoying it, but simply bearing it.
The biggest difference in quality between the two teams was probably in the speed and timing. Juventus players, whatever their position, had overall superiority in making good quick decisions, being able to read both their teammates' movements as well as their opponents'. But the focused effort by Marinos also seemed to say to Juventus, "You'd better do something pretty fantastic to get a goal from us." One example was a perfect vertical pass through a high Marinos defense line to Trezeguet saw him practically alone against goalie Enomoto. But he may have counted his chickens early, as he held on a might too long before taking the shot -- Matsuda's hustle and slide squashed the shot.
Next game against FCTokyo will probably be an entirely different type of game. FCTokyo have been on a losing streak for so long (though they finally won a Nabisco game last week) that I wonder how they will approach this game against such a high quality team like Juventus.
The remaining 60 minutes was much more exciting though. Marinos started to pick up their energy, and made more ambitious/confident plays. I think most people expected it to be another star-euro-club-vs-j-club atmosphere, with lots of smiling and playfulness, where it was all about the visiting team's star players and multi-goals. Juventus was missing a ridiculous number of top players due to NT obligations, and had invited several players from other Italian teams like Messina and Brescia. But this turned out to be a game full of fighting spirit and serious play from both sides. There were even a number of "fights" between players of the teams. In the final minutes, you could see Juventus Kapo and Turam arguing with each other -- the last ten minutes saw many good chances from Marinos, and you could almost taste a goal coming; one free kick ended in a goal for Marinos but the whistle had blown right before Kawai had tapped the shot in with his heel.
On the Marinos side, returning forward Kubo started and had two good chances but he was not quite up to his potential (though overall I don't think many Marinos supporters should/would be disappointed by his performance). Dutra on the left side, Oku and his sub Ohashi in the middle, and forward Sakata all had some fine moments. I was also interested to see Yamase, who had relatively recently joined the starting group after transferring from Reds and recovering from a very long injury. Matsuda was another focal point -- usually he is the one to get overly excitable, but this game he was extremely focused and diffused many close Juventus chances. He wasn't distracted by little things and was tough but cool -- kind of inspiring to see.
Actually it was a relief to see Marinos play with this much concentration and spirit -- during the league season so far, Marinos players were having a hard time finding joy in playing. The team were missing many top players, two of the NT members were shuttling back and forth between both teams, and the addition of the ACL group games added further strain. (For teams like Juventus, this may be nothing to gripe about, but for J-league teams it can be a hard blow to overall performance.) The mood had seemed to be "god, not another game.." and their results reflected that attitude. They weren't enjoying it, but simply bearing it.
The biggest difference in quality between the two teams was probably in the speed and timing. Juventus players, whatever their position, had overall superiority in making good quick decisions, being able to read both their teammates' movements as well as their opponents'. But the focused effort by Marinos also seemed to say to Juventus, "You'd better do something pretty fantastic to get a goal from us." One example was a perfect vertical pass through a high Marinos defense line to Trezeguet saw him practically alone against goalie Enomoto. But he may have counted his chickens early, as he held on a might too long before taking the shot -- Matsuda's hustle and slide squashed the shot.
Next game against FCTokyo will probably be an entirely different type of game. FCTokyo have been on a losing streak for so long (though they finally won a Nabisco game last week) that I wonder how they will approach this game against such a high quality team like Juventus.
Nothing official has been announced yet, but the talk is that it is almost certain that Toshiya Fujita (currently with Jubilo Iwata) will be transferring to Urawa Reds. There was an article last week saying that Fujita and Jubilo coach Yamamoto had one last meeting -- but both sides could not come to any agreement, and after that Yamamoto was heard to say that it was now out of his hands and the rest was up to the club to decide one way or the other.
The hurdle that stood between Fujita and Reds was a monetary one. Aside from that I believe Fujita had his eye on Reds as his number one choice. However, it seems that they were able to come to some agreement on that matter and we may hear an official announcement within the next week or so. As for his Reds number, some speculate it will be his number with the NT, "16".
The hurdle that stood between Fujita and Reds was a monetary one. Aside from that I believe Fujita had his eye on Reds as his number one choice. However, it seems that they were able to come to some agreement on that matter and we may hear an official announcement within the next week or so. As for his Reds number, some speculate it will be his number with the NT, "16".
The week preceding an NT game is like waiting for the other shoe to drop. If it ain't the weather or the logistics or the politics or the whatever, it's surely injuries. Today, it has been reported that Shinji Ono has injured his leg during a practice game yesterday. In fact, some report it as a broken bone -- so he will not be able to play in the upcoming qualifiers.
Despite all this, and the sense among supporters of doom and gloom, it really isn't surprising. I mean, it's a shock and bad news, but this isn't like we haven't seen his glass legs give out before. There was no serious tackling or roughness that led to the injury, so I can only assume that the vulnerability was there to begin with. If it hadn't happened during practice, it would have happened during the game, possibly.
This team has been through way too many injuries to be greatly bogged down by the bad news. Last year, right before the Czech game, Hide Nakata got injured and we all thought it was the end of the team right there. There is a bigger task here to get done -- more important than any one player. And despite the grumblings and criticisms of a nation, the Task has always been the focal point for the team. We each have our own un-favorites and favorites, people we want to see called up, criticisms about how the team performs, views on Zico's management and philosophy, etc. But right now, all that is absolutely besides the point. I actually like this team -- I am not satisfied by them, but they represent something different than anything we've seen before in the Japan NT. They also carry a burden rarely seen in recent Japanese sports -- perhaps the only group of athletes with the same amount of assumption for results put upon them recently is the Japanese Judo team (men's and women's) and they are the Brazil of the judo world. And perhaps some of the gambling spirit has gone out of the team because of that pressure and the criticism. We from the outside may be contributing to the second-guessing downward spiral. But the team knows itself the best and at this point the only thing I want to see is for them to play to their own satisfaction -- without fear, and most of all, without regrets...
I don't think Zico's original philosophy is wrong either. He wants to see a Japan NT that can think for themselves, make the final crucial decisions on the pitch where it counts -- not merely be a momentary mechanism for a blueprint for a coach that is going to be gone within four years at max(regardless of how the team performs, we could assume the coach would get switched in 2006). We saw the limitations of that in the matches of Japan's WC02 games, when the NT started to talk amongst themselves and decided on a plan of their own, ignoring coach Troussier's instructions. This is an organic process that is hard to predict and more difficult to sit patiently through. Most of all, it challenges the individual wisdom and abilities of the players -- and now, with Euro-club's Takahara, Inamoto, and Ono not among the starting, it is also kind of a "test of the J-league" as well. I don't even think Zico is entirely satisified either, but he has been stubbornly patient. It has only been after the two losses in the recent Kirin Cup games that he's switched up gears and attitude.
So, what will Zico do now that Ono is out? According to reports following Ono's injury during the 11-on-11 practice game, HNakata was dropped back down to defensive midfield (like he played in the last Bahrain game) and Ogasawara was put in next to Nakamura as a second offensive midfielder (like the last 20 minutes of the NK game). I've read nothing about Ogasawara's performance (the focus of the articles has been on Ono's injury), so it's hard to say whether the team will retain this 3-4-2-1 shape, or go back to the 3-4-1-2 shape... The question being what kind of difference the second offensive midfielder can bring to the game as opposed to whether Nakamura could create more opporunities if a second forward were available instead.
I don't know who visits this blog, or whether those that do follow the Japan NT at all, but if you do, I hope you'll join me in sending this team only the most positive and energetic vibes on Friday night.
Despite all this, and the sense among supporters of doom and gloom, it really isn't surprising. I mean, it's a shock and bad news, but this isn't like we haven't seen his glass legs give out before. There was no serious tackling or roughness that led to the injury, so I can only assume that the vulnerability was there to begin with. If it hadn't happened during practice, it would have happened during the game, possibly.
This team has been through way too many injuries to be greatly bogged down by the bad news. Last year, right before the Czech game, Hide Nakata got injured and we all thought it was the end of the team right there. There is a bigger task here to get done -- more important than any one player. And despite the grumblings and criticisms of a nation, the Task has always been the focal point for the team. We each have our own un-favorites and favorites, people we want to see called up, criticisms about how the team performs, views on Zico's management and philosophy, etc. But right now, all that is absolutely besides the point. I actually like this team -- I am not satisfied by them, but they represent something different than anything we've seen before in the Japan NT. They also carry a burden rarely seen in recent Japanese sports -- perhaps the only group of athletes with the same amount of assumption for results put upon them recently is the Japanese Judo team (men's and women's) and they are the Brazil of the judo world. And perhaps some of the gambling spirit has gone out of the team because of that pressure and the criticism. We from the outside may be contributing to the second-guessing downward spiral. But the team knows itself the best and at this point the only thing I want to see is for them to play to their own satisfaction -- without fear, and most of all, without regrets...
I don't think Zico's original philosophy is wrong either. He wants to see a Japan NT that can think for themselves, make the final crucial decisions on the pitch where it counts -- not merely be a momentary mechanism for a blueprint for a coach that is going to be gone within four years at max(regardless of how the team performs, we could assume the coach would get switched in 2006). We saw the limitations of that in the matches of Japan's WC02 games, when the NT started to talk amongst themselves and decided on a plan of their own, ignoring coach Troussier's instructions. This is an organic process that is hard to predict and more difficult to sit patiently through. Most of all, it challenges the individual wisdom and abilities of the players -- and now, with Euro-club's Takahara, Inamoto, and Ono not among the starting, it is also kind of a "test of the J-league" as well. I don't even think Zico is entirely satisified either, but he has been stubbornly patient. It has only been after the two losses in the recent Kirin Cup games that he's switched up gears and attitude.
So, what will Zico do now that Ono is out? According to reports following Ono's injury during the 11-on-11 practice game, HNakata was dropped back down to defensive midfield (like he played in the last Bahrain game) and Ogasawara was put in next to Nakamura as a second offensive midfielder (like the last 20 minutes of the NK game). I've read nothing about Ogasawara's performance (the focus of the articles has been on Ono's injury), so it's hard to say whether the team will retain this 3-4-2-1 shape, or go back to the 3-4-1-2 shape... The question being what kind of difference the second offensive midfielder can bring to the game as opposed to whether Nakamura could create more opporunities if a second forward were available instead.
I don't know who visits this blog, or whether those that do follow the Japan NT at all, but if you do, I hope you'll join me in sending this team only the most positive and energetic vibes on Friday night.
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