I was thinking (by the way, I am a Grade 2 referee in Japan, only missing Grade 1 through age, but regularly referee J.league training games for Vissel, and have done Gamba, Nagoya and Cerezo, also) after seeing four or five full games and some highlights, that the J.League referees have suddenly improved big time. there is so much more contact allowed, so many times that advantage is being played – when it helps the attacking team – and, in general, good communication between officials, with Assistant Referees not scared to make their feelings known when the Head Referee misses something.

Miyamoto started in the centre of defence. With Alex also making an appearance, it was the first time that both of Salzburg’s Japanese contingent had made the starting line-up ….

After I refereed Vissel 3-2 Grampus Eight two, last Monday, I can safely say Vissel look GOOD! Today the entertained Jubilo Iwata and, while I can’t say much about their praqctice game last Monday (as it was a closed/private game), Vissel, having been 2-0 up after six minutes, coasted past Nagoya and looked SO confident ALL OVER the field…. so, could they keep it up in the J.League? Read on…..

Austalia 1 – Kewell saved to the left by Kawaguchi 0-0Japan 1 – S. Nakamura powers it to Schwarzer’s left, Schwarzer gets a hand on it, but 1-0 Japan.Australia 2 – Neill – saved to Kawaguchi’s right this time! 0-1 Japan.Japan 2 – Endo literally strokes the ball to Schwarzer’s left, not even a hard shot. 0-2 Japan.Australia 3 – Cahill send Kawaguchi wrong way. 1-2 Japan.Japan 3 – Komano blasts it high into Aussie net! 1-3 Japan.Australia 4 – Carle sends Kawaguchi wrong way, Aussie still alive 1-3.Japan 4 – this one to win – Takahara skies it way over! 1-3 Japan.Australia 5 – Carney MUST score to stay in it – and he does 2-3 Japan.Japan 5 – Nakazawa to win it? YESSSS!!! High into the left as the keeper goes the other way! Superb PK

Catching this game on Internet in the UK….. can’t help thinking that a decent pitch and Japan would be walking this one…. here’s what I have seen so far…. as it happens, no editing after the match – let’s ee if my blue tinted specs are embarrassed!!

Japan take on group leaders and co-hosts Vietnam for the top spot in their group after their easy 3-1 win against UAE….

Japan can leave Canada with their heads held high, over 60% of the possession, goals from Makino and Morishima were cancelled out by two late PKs and the penalty shootout….. I’m convinced if they’d played on a decent pitch Japan would have WALKED this game (well, they did, according to all the stats except the final result!). No consolation to the players, though, eh! Too depressed to make a report! Try this (click on the READ MORE link for the URL) at FIFA.com, though how accurate it is really, who knows, they have Fujita as getting a red card – he wasn’t even on the field!!

Japan were hampered by what seemed a small pitch and the rough surface, but eked out a deserved 1-0 win without really getting out of 2nd gear! Team details and more…. read on…..

Here I am with yet another call to the J.League to reduce the number of foreigners in each team. Got to keep banging at the door to make a point! While, of course, it’s great to see the big names in Japan, for every Zico or Mboma there are plenty of guys who were never good enough for their national leagues but somehow seem to make it to Japan (as opposed to making it IN Japan!). Apart from the “filler” element of these no-namers, these players are taking the chances of Japanese players to be on the field. Each year the teams let go hundreds of kids, some of whom could be kept on for the salary of one or two of the foreigners in the teams! So, the future of Japanese football, and the youth of today is being neglected by allowing so many average foreign players into “our”teams. There can be no better way to emphasize the point than to point out the lack of goals being scored by the national team and then taking a look at the top scorers in the J.League at the break – from the top – UESLEI, EDMILSON, WASHINGTON, JUNINHO, BARE, OKUBO, JOHNSEN, SATO, MARQUINHOS, LEE, YAMASE, MAGNO ALVES, LEANDRO, LUCAS, MAGNUM – yes indeed, spot the Japanese!! In fact 91 of the 121 “top” goals have been scored by foreign players (and I am counting LEE as Japanese!). Good or bad? You decide!

An abridged version of an article prepared for the magazine Eye-Ai.