JAPAN TODAY



 

The Japanese soccer team's final two games against the United States and Ecuador last month in preparation for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar were supposed to determine who should be part of manager Hajime Moriyasu’s squad. Instead, the results produced more questions than answers. Japan defeated the U.S. 2-0, but the game against Ecuador ended in a scoreless draw.

It would be just as easy to be optimistic rather than pessimistic, but the reality is that final tests often don’t produce final answers.

The run-up to the 2010 World Cup produced a classic example. The team was coached by Takeshi Okada, probably the most successful Japanese manager, and contained some of Japan’s most accomplished players: Shinji Kagawa, Keisuke Honda, Shunsuke Nakamura, Yuji Nakazawa, Yoshito Okubo and Yasuhito Endo. But the best manager and the best players produced one of the worst run of results in Japan’s history.

In the months prior to the World Cup, Japan’s only victories came against Yemen, Hong Kong and Bahrain. They lost to South Korea (twice), Serbia, England and Ivory Coast. The results may have been poor, but the performances were much, much worse and there were calls for Okada to be replaced.

So the results and, more significantly, the performances that followed in the World Cup in South Africa were quite simply mind-blowing: one loss (1-0 to Holland), one 0-0 draw (in the round of 16 against Paraguay, which they lost on penalties) and two victories (1-0 against Cameroon and 3-1 against Denmark).

The transformation came about from the players themselves and, more importantly, the leaders they had on the squad such as Makoto Hasebe, Nakazawa and Honda.

The question now is: Can the current Japan squad take that same kind of self-confidence to the World Cup in Qatar?

Moriyasu has until Nov 1 to figure out who he wants to take with him and he would do well to learn from 2010. Technically, good players are easy to come by in Japan —  leaders, not so much.

However, Moriyasu is blessed with one of the best players Japan has ever produced: veteran defender Maya Yoshida, who is also a team leader.

Yoshida spent eight years in England’s Premier League as a regular center-back with Southampton where he grew and grew and was a fan favorite as well as being the occasional captain. The 34-year-old has played 121 times for his country and his experience has been vital to the Japanese national team.

The Japan squad has another player even older than Yoshida: 36-year-old Yuto Nagatomo, who has played for Japan 137 times. Where Yoshida has always been a figure of authority and calm on the team, left-back Nagatomo has never been that convincing.

Yes, his CV looks good with a seven-year stint at Inter Milan, but he never looked to be in control of his game, particularly as a defender. To his credit, he has improved and is a far better player than he was 10 or 15 years ago. In Japan’s last game against Ecuador on Sept. 27, he didn’t put a foot wrong and his experience will be indispensable for Moriyasu.

Japan’s last two World Cups have seen very different previews and outcomes. Japan went into the 2014 World Cup in Brazil on the back of four straight wins in preparation matches. The team ended up losing 2-1 to Ivory Coast in its opening match, drawing 0-0 with Greece and then getting thumped 4-1 by Colombia.

It was a different story in 2018 in Russia. After drawing against Mali in March, Japan lost three straight games — to Ukraine, Ghana and Switzerland — before managing to get the better of Paraguay. But once again, the players rose to the occasion in the World Cup, edging Colombia 2-1 in their opening match, drawing 2-2 with Senegal and losing 1-0 to Poland.

The results earned them a round-of-16 match against Belgium, one of the best teams in the tournament. After a 0-0 first half, Japan went up 2-0 before Belgium fought back to win 3-2. It was hailed as one of the best matches of the tournament and Japan was highly praised for its performance.

Now it’s time to do it again. The question is: Does Japan have the right players with the right mentality to pull off another World Cup surprise?

Playing in a group with Germany and Spain (and Costa Rica), the manager and the players will have to be at their very best to make it through to the next round. That said, neither Germany nor Spain are at their best heading into the tournament.

Players such as Takumi Minamino, Kyogo Furuhashi, Hiroki Sakai and Daizen Maeda have proved themselves in Europe and plenty of others are playing overseas, but will they come together as a team?

Sloppy performances by supposedly star players like Junya Ito and Kaoru Mitoma don’t inspire confidence, but Moriyasu was confident enough after the two matches in September.

“I think we showed that we have plenty of options in terms of strategy and playing styles,” he said. “Seeing the team function well no matter who is on the field is a huge asset going into the World Cup.”
He really should work for a PR agency.
 

2022 FIFA World Cup schedule for Japan:

• Nov 23: Japan vs Germany
• Nov 27: Japan vs Costa Rica
• Dec 2: Japan vs Spain

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