SOCCER

Australia downs Japan 2-1 to secure top spot in group for World Cup

Thursday 18th June, 05:27 AM JST

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bogva at 01:29 PM JST - 18th June

norhtlondon wrote:

Troussier was lucky to, a) inherit one of the best Japan squads ever (Nakata, Inamoto etc) and, b) was riding the crest of the 2002 World Cup euphoria here in Japan.<

Yes he was lucky to inherit the team he made Asian youth champions (if I am correct)! He did extremely well with the Japanese youth national team, he was nobody but was given after that the men team and delivered again. He was controversial but passionate and I've watched how he show the players how to tackle and other details.

All "great" coaches forget that anywhere except in the top football countries it is not enough only to coach. You have to show techniques and rise up the mentality of the players.
Osakadaz at 01:54 PM JST - 18th June

northlondon> while I do agree that Japan played the better football last night (less so in the second half) some of the claims you make have a distinct 'We hate the Aussies' English bias.Kewell always starts off the bench eh? sorry to disappoint you geezer,but he has started every game he has played in since the last Asian cup.If you think Scott McDonald and Emerton do not make the cut then I think you are profoundly mistaken. Do both teams need to get a heck of a lot better? yes. Were those the best starting lineups last night? far from it. Playing a dead rubber just to let your fringe players have a run can hardly be compared to the mentality and approach shown in a World Cup match.Both teams can and will play much better.
ratpack at 02:28 PM JST - 18th June

He didn't play for them and he didn't play for us and......the end result is the people available played and the result is as it is....Japan lost. If so and so did play who is to say he wouldn't have pulled a muscle in the first minute and got replaced anyway.........hypothetical situations are amusing aren't they...but the results stand.
terebiko at 02:33 PM JST - 18th June

I hate to point fingers, but I am really disappointed in Abe, both in this game and the previous game. He is just not playing well. He is definitely not a replacement for Nakazawa. I think they do have a good striker in Okazaki, if they could get him the ball. Matsui had some good runs, but he doesn't seem to mesh with the team like Nakamura (Shinsuke) does.
yokomoc at 04:02 PM JST - 18th June

Japan's problem, as it's been for years, is that that they have no strikers. This seems to be a country of midfielders. I keep thinking there must be some guy in the J-league that can hold a ball up, hold off a defender, turn his man, make space in the box and more imortantly finish. There just seems to be this neverending stream of weak non-entities at no.9. Yanagisawa, Okubo, Maki, Tanaka, now Okazaki and a load of others I can't recall right now. Only proper centre-forward they've had was Takahara who's apparently off-form in Germany and Okada celarly isn't a fan. Without someone there then Nakamura and Endo wouldn't have added too much end product, just good passes to useless finishers.

Have to (partly) agree with Terebiko, Abe stood a yard off Cahill for the first goal and left Tulio being challenged by two forwards, but I think I recall he's actually a defensive midfielder, and really just doesn't have a defender's brain when defending in the box. Nakazawa is always missed when he doesn't play.
sugoi_bakka at 04:47 PM JST - 18th June

I was at the game with my Japanese friends, it was a good spectacle. Australia started well and were passing the ball with some nice one-touch play. Then Japan stepped up a notch, got the first goal. This was the best thing that could have happened for the game, as the intensity went up enormously after that.

Both teams had their good and poor moments, and both did well considering both lacked key players. As someone mentioned, it's a nice rivalry we are building, I'm already looking forward to the next time we meet.
Brunobear at 05:02 PM JST - 18th June

It was exciting until the ad's finished and the game started. A snooze fest!

Too much off field hype and no sizzle with soccer matches.
aintgottimetobl at 06:39 PM JST - 18th June

japan was first into the world cup, yet on that 2nd half performance when the heat was turned up,will be first out..very disappointing
JackDorff at 08:15 PM JST - 18th June

Only proper centre-forward they've had was Takahara who's apparently off-form in Germany and Okada celarly isn't a fan

Takahara`s been at Urawa for the last season and a half. He scored on Saturday.
Potsu at 09:25 PM JST - 18th June

If only those Aussie rules guys would play soccer,they might win the World cup....or at least play entertaining soccer.
BurakuminDes at 03:11 AM JST - 19th June

Imagine if Soccer was in the top 3 football codes in Australia....we would be Invincible! At least we have a good chance of getting past the first round of the WC...unlike poor old Japan, who cannot beat European/South American/Australian teams.
Beerplease at 08:52 AM JST - 20th June

Why do I always find myself secretly rooting against Japan no matter who their opponents are?
jhk at 04:34 PM JST - 21st June

How about we change the game to which country can donate the highest percentage of GDP?

That way we can get back to reality in a world where recently 1B people are now in poverty. That's 1 in 6 people worldwide.

As the most played sport in the world, The World Cup should be about world issues, not the garbage posted above. Maybe this is why Nakata stopped playing, something to think about.
BurakuminDes at 06:42 PM JST - 22nd June

The World Cup should be about world issues, not the garbage posted above. Maybe this is why Nakata stopped playing, something to think about.

I can't speak for everyone, but for me Soccer is about sporting competition, not global politics. END OF.
smithinjapan at 01:01 AM JST - 23rd June

"japan was first into the world cup, yet on that 2nd half performance when the heat was turned up,will be first out..very disappointing"

I'm sick of hearing how 'Japan was the first team'. They were the first team not based on some extreme kind of talent, like it's first place or anything, but because of the timing of the games. Had it started a couple hours later there would have been at least one team qualifying before them.

You're right, though, that if Japan doesn't pick up their game they'll be out AGAIN in the first round -- probably in their first two games.