Football on Nanikore

Japan's World Cup 2006

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 02:14:03 +0000

As they undoubtedly prepare to come home, a few people will be asking, ’ What went wrong?’ In a group where on paper they could get through, they finished bottom, didn’t win a game, and earned the distinction of conceding the most goals in the last seven minutes of a world cup game - that was Japan’s World Cup 2006?

They might have gone under the banner of the Samurai Blue (as far as I know, that colour is pure marketing), but their strikers were more like sleeping ninjas - we barely saw them. When they did get in front of goal they were hesitant or obsessed with passing, not seeming to want be the one who missed the shot.

In most games it was left to others, notably Hidetoshi Nakata to drive in shots from a distance, obviously in frustration at his team mates inability to even let loose an attempt on goal. That shouldn’t detract from Tamada’s goal against Brazil, which was a well taken opportunity, but was by far the exception - Nakamura’s goal against Australia was messy at best.

So what will change? Well Zico has left (thankfully) and now Japanese football has to assess where to go with their next manager. I’m hoping for one more like Troussier, than Zico.

Zico’s excuses post game and criticism of his own team didn’t seem to do anything to anything to make people feel better, or even like him, especially when his comments didn’t seem to gel with the opinions of his players, or with anyone who watched the game.

I’ll never forget Nakata and Zico’s completely different press interviews following the Croatia game; Zico claimed the evil TV companies made them play in 30+ degree heat (it’s that in Japan right now), whereas Nakata made the outrageous claim that Japan just didn’t play well enough.

The only good thing is that I wont have to listen to any more absurdly nationalistic NHK commentary by commentators who apparently don’t understand all the rules of football, or at least they need to re-read the rules about offside. The bad thing is that now Japan are out, coverage will drop, and I’ll be back to listening to Radio 5 Live, or pay for cable!

I would say Japan’s best player was again Hide Nakata, and though it pains me to say so, Kawaguchi played far better than I expected, but I would really like to see him learn to catch the ball.

However, for a more informed view of Japan’s 2006 performance, check out the FootallJapan Blog.

Japan 1- 4 Brazil, and out.

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 01:39:12 +0000

So the World Cup 2006 adventure is over for the boys in Samurai Blue - Japan 1- 4 Brazil, and out.

What can be said? Well, Tamada scored Japan’s best World Cup goal in the 33rd minute against a fairly lethargic looking Brazilian team.

However, that goal seemed to wake them up, and they spent the rest of the game very artfully putting four goals past Japan. For many though, on the night and certainly in the Japanese media since, the enduring image has been of Japan’s hardest working player, Hidetoshi Nakata, laying down in the centre circle, swapped Brazilian shirt over his eyes presumably crying.

To be honest, you can’t blame him; both in talent and work ethic he’s head and shoulders above his team mates, and this third World Cup may be his last.

UK post from Grimsby

Tue, 08 Apr 2003 01:21:26 +0000

Well, this is my first post from Grimsby in the UK. I’m back in my old home town for a while, and taking advantage of my ISPs global roaming and my trusty old G3 Powerbook to make this post.

It’s good to be back in many ways - lots of nature and catching up with old friends and family is always a good thing, so I’ve taken the opportunity to take a few photos too, especially in the beautiful spring sunshine. On the subject of photos, I’ve also found a whole load of photos from years past - and a lot of pretty funny ones I’m going to try to scan and distribute to people as I go along.

So what’s happening in the UK? Aside from everyone avidly following events in Iraq, this weekend had the Grand National, the highlight of the British jump horse-racing and the Oxford/Cambridge university Boat Race along the Thames in London. This year it was won by Oxford in one of the closest competitions ever! So it’s been a good weekend for sports and such - and the weather was pretty good too.

On the subject of sports, I’ll be going to a football game on Tuesday night between my home team (Grimsby Town) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (aka ‘Wolves’). So I’ll update how that goes!