For those of you interested to follow the live score updates of Wednesday night's Jef and Gamba Emperor's Cup games, a live score update service will be available. Wednesday November 9, 7 pm (Japan time)
Emperor's Cup Round 4
Jef Chiba vs Kofu
Gamba Osaka vs Yokohama FC
>>Go to Live Score webpage
Click on the above left image to see the translation for the webpage. If you have questions, please leave a comment or email me.
 Zico arrived back in Japan in time to attend the Nabisco Cup final, and today announced the squad list for the upcoming friendly against Angola.23 players total, 3 GK, 8 DF, 8 MF, 4 FW -- so we can assume he will be going with a 4-4-2 system. Several notable inclusions: Le Mans' Daisuke Matsui, Jef Chiba's Yuki Abe and Jubilo's Shinji Murai. I'm particularly thrilled to see the first two have been called back to the squad. (There is talk that France league 2's Grenoble are making aggressive and generous overtures for Abe again. He declined their first offer this year because he wanted to lead Jef through to the end of the season and aim for some titles. But he had struggled over the decision, even seeking advice from Matsui.) But let's not forget that Shinji Ono and Takashi Fukunishi are out to injury, thus creating a couple openings in midfield. I wonder if Zico will "test" Endo and Abe by making them the starting defensive midfielders in the midfield four alongside Nakamura and Nakata. Notable exclusions: Mallorca's Yoshito Okubo and Marseille's Koji Nakata. However, it was because Koji got a red in the last game and therefore would not be able to play in this one. With so many games recently (league, Emperor's Cup, Nabisco) there are many players carrying injuries. In addition to Fukunishi and Ono, who have been left off the list, there are those like Miyamoto, Kaji (who has been out of play for a long time and just returned), Yanagisawa, M.Tanaka, so the list may change in the next few days as it becomes clear how these players are doing. The details of the press conference will be added later to this entry in the comments section. | ||
| Position | Player | Club |
| GK | Yoichi Doi | FC Tokyo |
| GK | Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi | Jubilo Iwata |
| GK | Seigo Narazaki | Nagoya Grampus 8 |
| DF | Tsuneyasu Miyamoto | Gamba Osaka |
| DF | Makoto Tanaka | Jubilo Iwata |
| DF | Keisuke Tsuboi | Urawa Reds |
| DF | Alex Santos | Urawa Reds |
| DF | Yuichi Komano | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
| DF | Yuji Nakazawa | Yokohama F Marinos |
| DF | Akira Kaji | FC Tokyo |
| DF | Teruyuki Moniwa | FC Tokyo |
| MF | Yasuhito Endo | Gamba Osaka |
| MF | Mitsuo Ogasawara | Kashima Antlers |
| MF | Shinji Murai | Jubilo Iwata |
| MF | Yuki Abe | Jef Chiba |
| MF | Hidetoshi Nakata | Bolton Wanderers |
| MF | Shunsuke Nakamura | Celtic |
| MF | Junichi Inamoto | West Bromwich Albion |
| MF | Daisuke Matsui | Le Mans |
| FW | Masashi Oguro | Gamba Osaka |
| FW | Keiji Tamada | Kashiwa Reysol |
| FW | Naohiro Takahara | Hamburg SV |
| FW | Atsushi Yanagisawa | Messina |
Some internationals who are off the list: Atsuhiro Miura DF Takayuki Suzuki FW Yoshito Okubo FW Koji Nakata MF Yoshinobu Minowa DF Yoichiro Maki FW Yasuyuki Konno MF Takayuki Chano DF Masashi Motoyama MF Takashi Fukunishi MF (injury) Shinji Ono MF (in rehab) Tatsuya Tanaka FW (out for 5 months) | ||
Le Mans 3-0 Marseille
>>Click to download goal videos from Allezlemans website
This was probably the big surprise of the weekend, but unfortunatley Daisuke Matsui could not play because of accumulated bookings. Marseille continue to flounder in the Ligue, and I am worried about Koji Nakata.
I read an article that discussed Koji's performance in the Latvia/Ukraine tour last month (the one in which an error from his passing against Latvia allowed a last minute goal, and then to get two yellows in the Ukraine game). The view seems to be that Koji is extremely stressed out about his situation at Marseille (and the inability for him to find a way to another club in Europe), and the anxiety he is getting from his position there is translating into a lack of focus and desperation when he is sent into international games. It is a reasonable argument because he is known to be unglamorous in his constantness and dependability, but he does carry that World Cup 02 Turkey game error (the one in which he is blamed for allowing the opponent to send the cross for the winning header goal)... It is painful to see him in this situation.
Going to Marseille, I can even count out as a poor choice in actually trusting Troussier and throwing everything away to go over to Europe, but then again he would have regretted not going no matter what. But at the national team level, he is going to have a very difficult time -- Zico has said recently that he considers Fukunishi as the current "top" in the defensive midfielder position, and some speculate that Koji is somewhere near the bottom. However, he is a multi-position player, and that is right now his only saving point unless he can pick up some good momentum in the next five months.
West Brom 0-1 West Ham
(Click photo to see enlarged)Clap clap calp. Three straight starts for Junichi Inamoto at WBA so far, and that's encourageing to see. Though the team lost against Westham this weekend, I hear Ina did fairly well, and even got a positive quote from the up-til-recently passive aggressive Robson.
At the end of October, Hidetoshi Nakata mentioned Inamoto in his personal website message after Bolton played the Baggies: "I was able to chat for a bit with Ina after the game, and can't help but wonder why he is not starting for them. Of course, since he didn't play in this game, I haven't actually seen his play at WBA (different teams ask different things of their players and your play style changes according to the demands of that club). But at least from what I know of Ina and looking at his performance on the national team, I don't think WBA are in the position to NOT be using him. Maybe it's his relationship with the manager... I had my share of this kind of relationship problem in Italy too, so.... (with a far-off look in his eyes)."
Anyway, it is a good first step for Ina to be playing more constantly now.
continues
>>Click to download goal videos from Allezlemans website
This was probably the big surprise of the weekend, but unfortunatley Daisuke Matsui could not play because of accumulated bookings. Marseille continue to flounder in the Ligue, and I am worried about Koji Nakata.I read an article that discussed Koji's performance in the Latvia/Ukraine tour last month (the one in which an error from his passing against Latvia allowed a last minute goal, and then to get two yellows in the Ukraine game). The view seems to be that Koji is extremely stressed out about his situation at Marseille (and the inability for him to find a way to another club in Europe), and the anxiety he is getting from his position there is translating into a lack of focus and desperation when he is sent into international games. It is a reasonable argument because he is known to be unglamorous in his constantness and dependability, but he does carry that World Cup 02 Turkey game error (the one in which he is blamed for allowing the opponent to send the cross for the winning header goal)... It is painful to see him in this situation.
Going to Marseille, I can even count out as a poor choice in actually trusting Troussier and throwing everything away to go over to Europe, but then again he would have regretted not going no matter what. But at the national team level, he is going to have a very difficult time -- Zico has said recently that he considers Fukunishi as the current "top" in the defensive midfielder position, and some speculate that Koji is somewhere near the bottom. However, he is a multi-position player, and that is right now his only saving point unless he can pick up some good momentum in the next five months.
West Brom 0-1 West Ham
(Click photo to see enlarged)Clap clap calp. Three straight starts for Junichi Inamoto at WBA so far, and that's encourageing to see. Though the team lost against Westham this weekend, I hear Ina did fairly well, and even got a positive quote from the up-til-recently passive aggressive Robson.At the end of October, Hidetoshi Nakata mentioned Inamoto in his personal website message after Bolton played the Baggies: "I was able to chat for a bit with Ina after the game, and can't help but wonder why he is not starting for them. Of course, since he didn't play in this game, I haven't actually seen his play at WBA (different teams ask different things of their players and your play style changes according to the demands of that club). But at least from what I know of Ina and looking at his performance on the national team, I don't think WBA are in the position to NOT be using him. Maybe it's his relationship with the manager... I had my share of this kind of relationship problem in Italy too, so.... (with a far-off look in his eyes)."
Anyway, it is a good first step for Ina to be playing more constantly now.
continues
Hmmm... from the comments I've seen and heard regarding the new jersey, alot of people are having a little trouble accepting the font they've used for the numbers... I have to admit, it's been bothering me too for looking a little retro and cartoonish, but I like the technology they put into the material and design. Afterall, that's Japan's forte, right? ;)
Speaking of, if any of you are interested in seeing more about the history of the Japan uniform, and also details about the design concept of this new one, take a look at Adidas' snazzy site.
>>click to go to Adidas Japan National Team site You will need to unblock any pop-up blockers, and click the ENTER button in the middle of the page that appears.
Under the PRODUCT category, you will see options to see the new home jersey and the home jersey history. You can click around and see all the photos of the jerseys there.
Under DOWNLOAD, they have wallpapers of Nakamura, K.Nakata, and Miyamoto, if you feel like getting into the Japan NT mood.
Speaking of, if any of you are interested in seeing more about the history of the Japan uniform, and also details about the design concept of this new one, take a look at Adidas' snazzy site.
>>click to go to Adidas Japan National Team site You will need to unblock any pop-up blockers, and click the ENTER button in the middle of the page that appears.
Under the PRODUCT category, you will see options to see the new home jersey and the home jersey history. You can click around and see all the photos of the jerseys there.
Under DOWNLOAD, they have wallpapers of Nakamura, K.Nakata, and Miyamoto, if you feel like getting into the Japan NT mood.
| HOME |
