Japan end Olympic campaign with Dutch defeat

Thursday 14th August, 05:47 AM JST

SHENYANG —

Japan’s Olympic campaign ended with a whimper Wednesday as Yasuharu Sorimachi’s side went down 1-0 to the Netherlands in their final first-round match at the Beijing Games. Sorimachi’s men came into the match looking to salvage some pride after defeats to the United States and Nigeria had eliminated them from the competition, but their misery was compounded when Gerald Sibon lashed home a late penalty to give the European Under-21 champions the points. ‘‘We failed to get any points from our first game and that meant we had to go on the offensive and I have no regrets about that,’’ said Japan coach Sorimachi. ‘‘It’s just that we still lack composure around the penalty area.’’ ‘‘I just hope at least one player from this group will go on to establish himself in the senior national team,’’ added the coach, whose Olympic squad did not include any overage players.

A cagey first half failed to yield a single clear-cut chance for either team in Shenyang although the Dutch got a fright in the 36th minute when Ryan Babel almost turned a Keisuke Honda corner past his own goalkeeper. The game livened up after the interval, though, and the Netherlands twice went close from set pieces before Yohei Toyoda forced a smart save from Kenneth Vermeer and Masato Morishige rattled the woodwork for the Japanese from fully 30 meters. However, it was the Dutch who prevailed after Sibon rifled home the decider from the spot 17 minutes from time, after Honda had pulled down Babel in the box. ‘‘It’s such a shame that having played so well the (penalty) decision by the referee has led to this result,’’ said Honda.

Kyodo

13 Comments

roomtemperature at 08:11 AM JST - 14th August

‘‘It’s such a shame that having played so well the (penalty) decision by the referee has led to this result,’’

You might be right, Honda. Dutch news reports said the penalty was very doubtful.
madammiz at 08:19 AM JST - 14th August

I was lucky enough to be at the game in Shenyang and I thought Japan did well to contain the big tall Dutch forwards. However, the penalty was dubious to say the least but at the end of the day, the Dutch won! Unlucky!
rajakumar at 09:36 AM JST - 14th August

No worries japan team.
smithinjapan at 11:42 AM JST - 14th August

Oh, geez... I just got off another thread with MANY talking about Japan and it's excuses. Here we go again, it seems.
roomtemperature at 12:22 PM JST - 14th August

What do you mean, Smith? The penalty WAS doubtful. Everyone says so, even the Dutch. But, as usual, you think Japan tries to find excuses again. Give it a rest, man!
nandakandamanda at 02:08 PM JST - 14th August

Er, this game was the pits. I watched it for a bit, got irritated by the clumsiness and immaturity of the Japanese side, and switched channels. Came back a bit later in a better mood and swiftly came to the same conclusion. This Japanese side is pathetic and doesn't deserve to win anything. Wild kicking, intercepted passes, and gaping lapses in concentration. The only surprising thing about it was that the Dutch never took proper advantage of these discoordinated amateurs. Talk about Kintaro-Ame, or Edinburgh Rock. Wherever you cut this game, the same picture, the Japanese side looked all left-footed.
flammenwerfer at 02:42 PM JST - 14th August

well at least football isn't hogging the TV airwaves, plenty of room for other stuff.
smithinjapan at 03:00 PM JST - 14th August

roomtemp: "Everyone says so, even the Dutch. But, as usual, you think Japan tries to find excuses again. Give it a rest, man!"

Dude... have you been watching the Olympic coverage at all?? Every event, which is to say, every event broadcast because they're not if the Japanese is not in them, has the announcers saying, "Sassuga! Nippon! (Of course! [because it's] Japan!" when they win, and, "Yappari, sutoresu ga aru dakara" (Yes, it's because the Japanese player is under a lot of stress), etc. Anyway, I'll agree, the call was doubtful, but how about the first two games? Japan hasn't played worth a c$$p since the World Cup co-hosted with SKorea, and it's always one thing or the other... face it. And even if the call WAS bad (which it was), are you saying Japan would have won? There are ALWAYS bad calls when it comes to sports/events that are judged or have referees calling the shots, and that's the way it works. Hell, as a Canadian, I know all about the whining at the hands of 'bad calls' (every call against Canada's athletes is bad, or didn't you know?).

So there you go, my friend. I don't think 'Japan needs to find excuses again', as though it were solely the Japanese who do so, but it is indeed an excuse for losing, or are you saying it's not? So again, how about the fact that they haven't made it past any first round contentions in international matches if this one time was just a bad call?
smithinjapan at 03:45 PM JST - 14th August

And I just want to set the record straight, I am NOT against the Japanese team. I want to see them do well, almost as much as the Japanese do. What I can't stand is the Japan team's inability to take advantage of all the chances it has (it didn't have many in the first half of this game as much as in others) and losing to teams it should easily be able to beat. STOP wasting chances, and STOP making excuses! Take the initiative and go for it!
roomtemperature at 03:51 PM JST - 14th August

Now Smith, that sounds much better. And I agree with you on that.
Sarge at 03:54 PM JST - 14th August

"Yappari, sutoresu ga aru dakara"

Har!
nandakandamanda at 06:15 PM JST - 14th August

OK, I agree with Smith too! :thumbsup:
smithinjapan at 10:48 AM JST - 15th August

roomtemp and nandakandamanda: Not sure which part of my comment you are 'agreeing' with, but what the hell. Enjoy the games is all I say.......