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November 12th, just before the match against Singapore, the new Japan shirts were launched!
With a local time of 18.00 for kick off in Australia, the air was warm, but not too hot – a balmy 27 degrees C, and a slight spatter of rain to add a little zip to the surface – at Hunter Stadium, Newcastle, New South Wales for Japan’s opening match of the Asian Cup, against tournament debutants Palestine.
It was, in the end, a walk in the park for Japan – the Group D favourites – against Asian Cup first-timers Palestine, with Yasuhito Endo, Shinji Okazaki, Keisuke Honda and Maya Yoshida all getting on the scoreboard to open the Samrai Blue defence of the trophy confidently – and with a clean sheet.
Javier Aguirre chose experience over youth – as I’d expected – with Endo and Makoto Hasebe starting in the middle of the park, despite some critics’ dismissal of both players’ selections for this tournament. With Gaku Shibasaki a little behind in fitness after joining the squad late, due to a flu infection, his non-inclusion was not a surprise anyway, so the veteran pair selected themselves.
Takashi Inui – who had been in a rich vein of goalscoring form in friendlies before the tournament proper – was given the nod over Muto, or Kiyotake, depending on your outlook and Gotoku Saki was looking to make the right back spot his own.
It was no surprise to see Eiji Kawashima between the posts and, of course, this game was never going ahead without Honda, Shinji Kagawa and Okazaki.
Life will be a little harder for Japan in their remaining Group D fixtures against Iraq (Friday) and Jordan (Tuesday).
Palestine had qualified for this – their first Asian Cup appearance – through the AFC Challenge Cup, and questions will probably be asked about their winning of a place over more qualified national teams who went through the qualifying process unsuccessfully.
Endo’s opener was a speculative – possible even mis-hit – grass-cutter from about 25 yards that escaped the keeper’s fingertips after he seemed to dive too early. The reigning champions then doubled their lead in the 25th minute when Inter Milan’s left back – said to be on the radar of Premier League West Bromwich Albion – attacked down the left. His cross was forced out, but the bouncing ball fell to Kagawa, who saw his blast headed home from close range by the lightning reflexes of Okazaki.
Palestine had made a habit of pushing and pulling the Japanese players and this came home to roost when Mus’ab Al Battat was judged to have bundled Kagawa over in the penalty area. Honda stepped up to place the ball past the keeper with some ease and it was 3-0 at the break.
Japan made their first change as the second half began, with Hiroshi Kiyotake replacing Takashi Inui as the teams came out for the restart.
Japan added their fourth goal when Kagawa received a short corner in the area, twisted one way, slipped back the other and lobbed a deep far post cross for Yoshida to head home with aplomb. Still lels than 50 minutes on the clock and Japan were cruising in second gear, if that.
Palestine then raised the physical aspect of their game with more and more fouls and started to lose any friends that they might have gained by making it this far. This rough play saw Japan’s second sub, Yoshinori Muto – on for Endo – get a high boot in the stomach (or worse!?) moments after entering the field. His assailant escaped with just a yellow card.
Ahmed Harbi was not so lucky and saw his second yellow in the 73rd minute, and yet, as Palestine went down to ten men, Japan seemed to lose momentum, or desire, or just slip down into a lower gear, their job done.
After earlier flailing – and missing – at the one cross that came his way, Kawashima then saw a free header from a right wing free kick fly past his post as Al Bahdari was given space to attack the ball.
Yohei Toyoda made a late appearance for Japan but did little as the Samurai Blue settled back for the easy win, yet, as additional time wound down it looked as if Japan would get another. Kiyotake saw his shot saved, and then the ball ricocheted around the box and four goal attempts were blocked within ten seconds before the final whistle sounded.
Summary? An easy win against a team that were out of their depth and got more physical as the game progressed. A clean sheet, no yellow cards and, hopefully, no injuries is more than a decent start to the campaign. Bring on Iraq!
JSoccer Magazine
Images (C) World Sport Group
Tiago Bontempo – one of JSoccer Magazine’s experts on Japanese players overseas – gives us this list of Japanese players in Europe this season … (do you see any missing? Please advise)… Tiago gave us his Top Ten Japanese in Europe in JSoccer Magazine Issue 12 – excellent to read.
I believe that more players will go to Switzerland in the near future, and there will be a return to Holland for some? What do you think?
Akira Kaji going to Chivas in USA may show the way for more older (nearing retirement) or younger (without contract offers?) players to go to “the States”. A few more heading to Australia soon, too?
GERMANY – Bundesliga
Atsuto Uchida – Schalke 04
Gotoku Sakai – Stuttgart
Genki Haraguchi – Hertha Berlin
Hajime Hosogai – Hertha Berlin
Hiroki Sakai – Hannover 96
Hiroshi Kiyotake – Hannover 96
Makoto Hasebe – Eintracht Frankfurt
Takashi Inui – Eintracht Frankfurt
Shinji Kagawa – Borussia Dortmund
Shinji Okazaki – Mainz
Yuya Osako – Cologne
Kazuki Nagasawa – Cologne
GERMANY – Bundesliga 2
Hiroki Yamada – Karlsruher
Yusuke Tasaka – Bochum
GERMANY – 3rd Division
Mitsuru Maruoka – Borussia Dortmund B
ENGLAND
Ryo Miyaichi – Arsenal
Maya Yoshida – Southampton
ITALY
Keisuke Honda – AC Milan
Yuto Nagatomo – Inter Milan
SPAIN – Primera Liga
Mike Havenaar – Córdoba
SPAIN – Division 2
Sotan Tanabe – Sabadell
SPAIN – Division 3
Yukiya Sugita – Hércules
PORTUGAL – DIvision 1
Junya Tanaka – Sporting
PORTUGAL – DIvision 2
Mu Kanazaki – Portimonense
SWITZERLAND
Yuya Kubo – Young Boys of Berne
Yoichiro Kakitani – FC Basel
BELGIUM
Eiji Kawashima – Standard Liège
Yuji Ono – Standard Liège
HOLLAND – Division 2
Yuki Otsu – VVV Venlo
RUSSIA
Takafumi Akahoshi – FK Ufa
POLAND
Takuya Murayama – Pogon Szczecin
Shohei Okuno – Pogon Szczecin
ROMANIA
Takayuki Seto – Astra Giurgiu
Japan soaked up some early pressure in a first half that they allowed France to run away with, but France failed to capitalize on their possession and Japan came back into the game in the 2nd half. While the winning goal could not be said to have come from an unlikely source – Kagawa – the genesis of the goal was indeed unlikely.
France took a corner late on, the ball broke free and centre back Konno sprinted up the field. As he approached the penalty area, on his right wing was left back Nagatomo, in front of him was right back Uchida! He slipped the ball outside to Nagatomo who pinged it across the goal into a crowd of players when all were expecting/hoping for the killer shot. But in that crowd was Kagawa, who finished smartly, falling as he connected with the low volley, and Japan took the game!
The result was excellent, some of the performance not so excellent, especially the 1st half, but any win against a top-ranked team can only bring more confidence to the team, and the squad.
Analyzing individual games it’s hard to point out any particular times when a Japanese player had a problem – which doesn’t say too much for the French team – but also, it’s hard to pick out any individual brilliance to comment on, apart from Kawashima, in the Japan goal, who did pull off a couple of smart saves in the closing minutes before Japan took the lead.
Sakai did enough at right back for us to not notice he wasn’t Uchida. Endo was his usual calm and collected self, spraying passes all over, while he also got in a couple of biting tackles when needed – he ended the game with the captain’s armband, after Hasebe went off – a fitting way to mark his record-equaling 122nd appearance for the Samurai Blue. Hasebe was as reliable as ever, but when replaced by Hosogai it was the right timing – if he doesn’t get to play more, or get a quick transfer, Hosogai may be getting that starting place soon.
Nagatomo beat the French right side with ease often enough, but his crosses came to nothing. On the right Sakai was less conspicuous in attacking mode. Nakamura, Kagawa and Kiyotake were up and down the field, working hard, but also creating space for each other and confident in the pass.
In central defence, Yoshida and Konno put nary a foot (or head) wrong, although the French attack could have done better with the possession they had, but forwards who can’t finish are the product of, among other things, defenders doing their jobs.
Zaccheroni gave Inui some time on the field late on, and the ex-Cerezo man – teaming up with Kagawa (and Kiyotake also in on the Cerezo connection) again – showed flashes of why he should be considered for selection again soon.
So, no individual brilliance, perhaps, from Japan, but a decent all-round performance in the end, and a win for Les Bleus Samourais!
Bring on Brazil!
Japan starting XI (4-2-3-1)
GK Kawashima
DF (R to L) H. HasebSakai, Yoshida, Konno, Nagatomo
DMF Endo,Hasabe
OMF (R to L) Kiyotake, Nakamura, Kagawa
FW 194cm Havenaar Mike
May 23rd sees Japan take on Azerbaijan at Ecopa Stadium, Shizuoka. An opposition – a lowly FIFA ranked team – that Japan coach Zaccheroni actively requested, to allow his team to gain experience of playing against a similarly-ranked team to Oman and Jordan, who Japan play in World Cup Qualifying in June, along with Australia.
May 28th Japan take on Colombia in Tokyo, before concentrating on their two qualifiers in Saitama – June 3rd v. Oman and June 8th v. Jordan, before a trip to Brisbane to face Australia in further qualifying for WC 2014.
It will be interesting to see who Zac selects – who do YOU think will be in? Has Miyaichi done enough? Is Honda match fit? Will Kagawa’s mind be on a Premier League move? Is Genki Haraguchi back!? Has Hisato Sato done enough to get another chance for Japan? Will Tulio EVER play for Japan again? Will Kiyotake be selected or allowed to concentrate on London2012 (and Nuremburg plans!)? Will any of the S-Pulse youngsters get the call?
Your answers, or more questions below, please!
Hiroshi Kiyotake will be the latest Japanese up-and-coming youngster to leave Cerezo Osaka and move to Germany after various media outlets “revealed” the badly-kept secret that the U-23 star will move to the Bundesliga’s FC Nuremburg in the European summer transfer window. In a nutshell, the deal had been on the cards for months but both parties were waiting for confirmation that the team would still be in Germany’s top division for next season. Nuremburg were also reported to have shown interest in Takashi Inui and Takashi Usami, both of who are still on their radar – what a trio that would be for the German team!
Kiyotake’s agent, Yoshinori Nishimata of JSP, revealed to me last week that the deal was 99.9% done and the full details would be released as soon as possible. It appears that Cerezo Osaka will be getting a fee somewhere a little closer to a “real” value – compared to the paltry fee that Borussia Dortmund paid the club for Shinji Kagawa – around 1 million Euros is the quote making the rounds. The player himself smiled quietly to himself, and kept his lips sealed when I quizzed him about it on Sunday…. wait and see! Or more of a case of I can’t talk about it, YET!
In an interview for Issue 2 of JSoccer Magazine last autumn, Kiyotake spoke about a move to Europe, and did not deny that he had his heart set on a move abroad sooner rather than later, but said that he couldn’t really discuss it in detail at that time! I noted that he should at least wait until after the Olympics – I actually meant to wait to make the DECISION, not the actual move but, hey, I did my best!
In the last year teams as disparate as Manchester City, Leicester City, Rangers, Feyenoord, and most of Germany have been keeping tabs on the player as he made the successful graduation from the Olympic youngsters to the full national team and Nuremburg faced interest from other clubs, but, with the JSP – Thomas Kroth (executive director of the agency PRO Profil) connections, it was only ever going to be the Bundesliga for Kiyotake!
Personally I would have hoped that Kiyotake would wait until the end of the 2012 season, rack up a few National team appearances, and have more of a choice of club to move to (in England’s Premier League, for example, a player needs to have played in 75% of the last two years’ national team games) in 2013 but he and his agents have taken this step before the player has had the chance to qualify for that Premier League visa! I expect Manchester City will keep tabs on “Kiyo” and, in a few years Nuremburg will be cashing in, while the agents count their percentages, too!
As for Cerezo Osaka, they replaced Shinji Kagawa. They did without Takashi Inui. They moved on from Akihiro Ienaga. Saying sayonara to Hiroshi Kiyotake is just business as usual for the J.League’s most inconsistent club – perhaps I can give a hint as to why they’re having trouble putting together that winning feeling that they seek season after season!
Cerezo Osaka – DF Takahashi out for at least two more weeks.
Cerezo Osaka (P8 W4 D1 L3 GD +3) showed their good side for most of the game last week going 3-0 up against Jubilo Iwata before it ended 3-2. They are the most inconsistent team ever, it seems but surely they can’t fail against a Consadole Sapporo (P8 W0 D1 L7 GD -9) who have lost seven straight games since their opening day draw.
The youngsters of Cerezo Osaka, led by Kiyotake and Kim still need guidance – hence the inconsistency and, if both of those players move to Europe in the summer transfer window, as has been posited by various parts of the press, Cerezo wil have to rebuild again – something they are getting used to after losing Kagawa, Inui and Ienaga in recent times. But that’s the future, for today EXPECT a WIN for CEREZO OSAKA!
Consadole have four wins to Cerezo’s three wins in seven J2 meetings. There have been no draws between these two teams and this will be their first ever meeting in J1.
Consadole Sapporo v. Cerezo Osaka – Even Inconsistent Cerezo won’t Fail against Bottom Club!
Cerezo Osaka – DF Takahashi out for at least two more weeks.
Cerezo Osaka (P8 W4 D1 L3 GD +3) showed their good side for most of the game last week going 3-0 up against Jubilo Iwata before it ended 3-2. They are the most inconsistent team ever, it seems but surely they can’t fail against a Consadole Sapporo (P8 W0 D1 L7 GD -9) who have lost seven straight games since their opening day draw.
The youngsters of Cerezo Osaka, led by Kiyotake and Kim still need guidance – hence the inconsistency and, if both of those players move to Europe in the summer transfer window, as has been posited by various parts of the press, Cerezo wil have to rebuild again – somethign they are getting used to after losing Kagawa, Inui and Ienaga in recent times. But that’s the future, for today EXPECT a WIN for CEREZO OSAKA!
Consadole have four wins to Cerezo’s three wins in seven J2 meetings. There have been no draws between these two teams and this will be their first ever meeting in J1.