National Team Match: Japan vs Trinidad & Tobago2 - 0
Date: August 9, 2005
Location: Tokyo National Stadium
Japan 2
2 1H 0
0 2H 0
0 Trinidad
Alex Santos (17')
Alex Santos (22') Scoring
Cautions JagdeoSingh
Two cheers for Osim Japan! At last we have the makings of a competitive football team.
But lets keep the celebrations in check for the time being, because there is still a long way to go before we can conclude that the long gloomy period of stagnation in Japanese football is over. Oh, there is no question that Japan's young guns played the most invigorating 25 minutes of football that we have witnessed in at least two years. The only problem is that they failed to do the same for a full 90. From the looks on coach Osim's face as the clock wound down towards full time, he was slightly less than satisfied, as well. What we saw on Wednesday evening was some excellent raw material. But the finished product is still a long ways off.
Lets get the misgivings out of the way first, because this is still the first step on a long road and we can be sure that things will improve over time. There is every reason to cheer both the result and the content of this match, and we intend to do just that. However, it is worth pausing for a moment to reflect on the shortcomings before we get too carried away with the joy and promise of a new era in the Japanese National Team's history. After dominating their opponent for the first half hour, the players seemed to sit back, pat themselves on the back, and start planning where to go for the celebration party, tonight. They showed flashes of brilliance from time to time over the remaining one hour, but generally speaking, they lost the hunger and determination needed to overcome a stingy physical defence like that of the Soca Warriors. This is not a minor issue, nor a nitpicking concern. Let us not forget that the core of this team was build on players who took part in the 2004 Athens Olympics, a team that we described at the time in the following words:
This group of pansies cant even produce the necessary combative effort to knock off a vastly inferior team. . . . The best thing that could happen would be for someone to pull the plug, let this group of losers swirl down the drain, and maybe . . . just maybe . . . they will learn that playing the amiable, easy-going nice guy never gets you anywhere in the world of sports . . . . (The olympic team are) the most limp-wristed group of shrinking violets to come out of Japan in the past 2500 years. Though they may have the potential to play skilled, highly technical football when the opportunity presents itself, this team is completely lacking in emotion and intensity. Lets face it, apart from Tulio, I could meet any one of these wimpy castrati in a dark alley, knock them down, laugh in their face, steal their girlfriend, and call them a loser . . . and still walk home without a single wrinkle in my Hugo Boss three-piece.It is true that several years have passed since that was written, and not only have many of the players grown a pair of chestnuts in the intervening years, but the worst and wimpiest of the lot have been cast by the wayside (and good riddance). But we still look at some of these kids and wonder how much testicular fortitude they possess. When things go too easy for the Athens generation, as they did on Wendesday evening, they have a tendency to slack off, lose their focus and determination, and put on a sub-par performance. Although we were certainly pleased with the results from their first international test under coach Osim, we will definitely need to keep an eye on the team for the time being, to be sure that they have overcome the gutlessness that plagued them in their younger days.
To be fair, however, we should note that there were other factors which also contributed to the relatively anticlimactic nature of the second half (and even the late first half) of this match. The most obvious point to consider is that few of these players have worked together in at least two years. Coach Osim started a lineup that was drawn heavily from the Urawa Reds, in part because that ensured more continuity in their play. But once he started substituting, you could see the players struggling to read one another's intentions and moves. Second, Trinidad & Tobago seemed to figure out very early on that they were outmatched, and by the early second half they were clearly putting more effort into running down the clock than in trying to play football. Though we havent yet taken the time to clock the stoppages, it would not be surprising to find that 15 mintues or more of the second half were spent attending to "injured" players.
With this in mind, the opening half hour of the match was truly a joy to watch, especially to those who have been numbed to near-catatonia from watching old reruns of Zico Japan contests. Players were actually RUNNING OFF THE BALL (if you can believe it!), and trying to find space as they moved with short passing and quick overlapping runs through the Trididad defence. Unfortunately, most of the high-quality crosses were cleared away by the taller and more physical Trinidad defenders, who were able to outmuscle lightweights like Tatsuya Tanaka and Kazuki Ganaha. Both of these players were extremely sharp in their penetration, but they are not well suited to finishing off the high crosses from the wing. Still, some of the wide-open wing runs by Hayuma Tanaka, at right wingback, and Yuichi Komano on the left, were simply delicious, and had us licking our lips in anticipation of the sort of carnage that a powerful centre forward like Seiichiro Maki or Sota Hirayama could create if they get that sort of service on a regular basis.
The first goal arrived in the 17 minute, and was created by a flurry of shot passes that had the Soca Warriors tied up in knots. Eventually, all the central defenders could do to halt the swirl of offensive penetration was to haul down Tatsuya at the top of the penalty arc. Alex Santos stepped up and sent the free kick curling inside the right post, to give Japan the early lead.
Five minutes later, another swirling flurry of passes loosened up the center of the Trinidad defence, and as the ball swung out to Komano on the left flank, Santos started to rush forward through the gaping opening in the centre of the pitch. With Ganaha in one channel and Tatsuya in another, the defenders stood rooted in place, and Santos was able to prance all alone through the middle as Komano lobbed a cross in front of him. The keeper rushed out but was far too late, as Santos chipped the ball over his head and into the empty net.
As we have already noted, the players seemed to slack off a bit after taking a two-goal lead, and though they threatened a few more times before the break, things were already starting to get sloppy. In the second half, substitutions clearly had an adverse effect on the team's coordination. No doubt these players will need a lot more experience playing with one another in a competitive situation, before they can start to put their passes together in a smooth, unbroken sequence. Still, there were occasional flashes of excitement as the short passing game picked apart the Trinidad defence. If only the final passes had been on target more frequenmtly, Japan probably could have added two or three more tallies before the final whistle.
But as we noted at the top, Osim Japan is still a work in progress. There are a lot of things that the team needs to work on -- most of all, their work rate after they get a lead. Even so, you can be sure that fans of the Japan NT will be lying down to sleep, this evening, with smiles of contentment on their faces. The first outing for Osim Japan surely laid the Zico Era to rest, once and for all. And though the team's performance may not deserve perfect marks, it clearly does give us a hint of great things to come, over the next four years. For those many fans in National Stadium who were already holding up large South African flags, to remind the players of their ultimate goal, the future looks bright, and the promise of a better day is already being written on the score sheets that will cover the front pages of tomorrow's tabloids.
The Osim era has begun!
Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Yuichi Komano, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Keisuke Tsuboi (Yuzo Kurihara 61), Hayuka Tanaka, Keita Suzuki, Alessandro Santos (Daisuke Sakata 85), Makoto Hasebe (Naoshi Nakamura 74), Koji Yamase (Daigo Kobayashi 56), Kazuki Ganaha (Hisato Sato 65), Tatsuya Tanaka
Williams, John, Sid Grey, Charles, Thomas (Ian Grey 78), Leon, Wise, Wolff (Jagdeo Singh), David (Baptiste), Noel, Glasgow
source: http://www.wldcup.com/Asia/nats/2006/trinidad.html