(click to enlarge photo) One of the most surprising things Zico said after this game was that he had at first intended to use the B team (the eleven-ish players that started in the China and Korea games) in the first game against North Korea as well. But he said he second-guessed his instinct because he felt it was too much pressure to throw them out on the pitch like that with almost no practice time together, since it was the first game of the tournament. He said before the game that instead of switching a few players here and there with the A squad, he did a complete switch because he wanted the players to play without shyness (for lack of a better translation) -- in other words, Japanese people are extremely aware of "rank" and order, so if a relatively new person comes into a group, he will curtail his own personality or desires to allow his senpais to do the leading.Many anti-Zico Japan supporters felt that his switch to an all-new squad in the second game was his attempt to create an "alibi"; when Zico continued with the same new squad for the Korea match, the anti-Zico folk had argued he had hypocritically switched from going for a win to just testing.
The moral of a story is often unclear until you hear how it ends. During this week of the EAFF Cup, football analysts in Japan have been trying to figure out the ultimate purpose of these EAFF Cup games in the context of Japanese football.
First, I thought it would be good to do a little research and dig up background on the EAFF and the Cup. (Apologies in advance for the haphazard writing that is about to be uleashed on you; I have to get to sleep quickly but wanted to get this entry done!)
Why is there an EAFF?
East Asia was the last to officially establish a federation under the AFC umbrella. Yes, last. In fact, it was only three years ago that the EAFF was officially formed. The AFC has 44 member countries, but the progress of football was very slow up until about ten years ago. The biggest hurdles standing in the way of Asian football as an entity include politics, religion, instability, etc., and of course the sheer vastness that is Asia. It made it very difficult for good football relations to develop between Asian footballing countries and development of the game.
First, I thought it would be good to do a little research and dig up background on the EAFF and the Cup. (Apologies in advance for the haphazard writing that is about to be uleashed on you; I have to get to sleep quickly but wanted to get this entry done!)
Why is there an EAFF?
East Asia was the last to officially establish a federation under the AFC umbrella. Yes, last. In fact, it was only three years ago that the EAFF was officially formed. The AFC has 44 member countries, but the progress of football was very slow up until about ten years ago. The biggest hurdles standing in the way of Asian football as an entity include politics, religion, instability, etc., and of course the sheer vastness that is Asia. It made it very difficult for good football relations to develop between Asian footballing countries and development of the game.
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