Japan drawn into tough group in Olympic soccer

Monday 21st April, 04:52 AM JST

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Latest 15 of 21 Total Comments Show All

Altria at 11:21 AM JST - 21st April

They were drawn into a tough group? Suckers!
pathat at 12:12 PM JST - 21st April

Olympic soccer should go the way of baseball and softball after these Games. Tennis should be discontinued as well.
nisegaijin at 12:40 PM JST - 21st April

get ready for some pounding. gambare nippon my rear end!
northlondon at 12:48 PM JST - 21st April

pathat,

Totally agree with that one. 'Football', baseball and tennis are not Olympic sports.

Moderator: Back on topic please. Discussion of Olympic sports can be done in the relevant Have Your Say section.
northlondon at 01:05 PM JST - 21st April

Moderator,

I don't know if you noticed, but this article is about Japan and their opponents in the Olympic soccer tournament. Some of us are discussing whether soccer should be an Olympic sport at all. Discussing Olympic sports on a news article about an Olympic sport seems pretty relevant doesn't it ?

Moderator: But we have a section, called Have Your Say, in which we specifically asked which sports readers think should or shouldn't be in the Olympics. This particular tread is about Japan's draw in the soccer tournament. Why don't you discuss Japan's chances against its opponents in the soccer?
northlondon at 02:41 PM JST - 21st April

As a soccer connoisseur, I would say that they have no chance at all..
spudman at 02:46 PM JST - 21st April

northlondon* Touchy. poor sport? The point is other countries have won international football tournaments and England hasn't done so for a long time. I'm Irish if you must know "Spud"might give it away. Good luck Japan and prove these nehsayers wrong.
northlondon at 03:12 PM JST - 21st April

Spud, England have won nothing since 1966 but unfortunately for some, England are still a world power in the game of football. Large voting power in FIFA plus the Premier League make it so.
thepossum at 04:21 PM JST - 21st April

Oh and westurn, I do believe the reigning Olympic champs are Argentina ! Though Nigeria took gold in Atlanta a few years back. Japan could truly be in trouble here. And England... interesting viewpoint by Northlondon. However, other sources indicate that England used to take Olympic soccer very seriously. So much so that they have won the gold 3 times. The problem with England is more political in nature than lack of desire on the pitch. England competes under the "UK" flag. Which also consists of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. If England wants to send a football squad, they will have to resign their status as a UK member, and England doesn't want to do that because such a move would be financialy risky. Of course the English can always steal back Jamaica and play under their flag like they did at the World Cup for so many years !
Kreza23 at 10:07 PM JST - 21st April

Japan has a tendency to take this tourney seriously while other nations don't. Why Japan doesn't win this time and time again is a real mystery.

Westurn,not sure what you mean by take this tourney seriously, but whoever is on the pitch is there to win. And if you were referring to a lack of talent in the Olympics, Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo were there in Athens, Ronahldino, Roberto Carlos and Etoo have also played, and that's is just off the top of my head (or rather what I remember from watching some TV last night). The Netherlands is the Euro champion in this age group and are a very very dangerous team. But I remember this very same age-group playing in the U-20 World Cup (in Holland) a couple of years back, and they were matched up against Japan then too, and they only beat them 2-1. Granted, they dominated play, but after getting worked for the first half, Japan came back in the second-half and looked pretty good. And your mention of the US being up 3-0 at halftime for their last friendly (which you conveniently failed to mention ended up being a close 3-2 victory for the US) is hardly relevant, as those were completely different players, and at least for Japan, not a single one of those players is on this Olympic squad.
westurn at 10:52 PM JST - 21st April

"Westurn,not sure what you mean by take this tourney seriously, but whoever is on the pitch is there to win."

Hullaballoo ! It explains why international football powerhouses like Brazil, West Germany, and The Netherlands have never won the Gold ! Hell even team USA has more medals than the West Germans ! Throw in the fact that Italy, France, and Argentina only have one gold medal each and it seems pretty clear that the Olympics is nothing more than a feeder program for the national team... which explains why the likes of "Tevez Cristiano Ronaldo Ronahldino Roberto Carlos and Etoo etal" playing !

And for this... well, you asked for it,

"And your mention of the US being up 3-0 at halftime for their last friendly, which you conveniently failed to mention ended up being a close 3-2 victory for the US"

Close ??? Yeh after the Americans filled the second half line-up with their university and high school kids ! Booya !

Again, Japan sends teams with the idea of winning at all costs. The other nations use this tournement to look at young players and build their national team. Explains why Japan has an overinflated opinion of itself in soccer. Much like baseball, they win the tournements nobody cares about ! Cograts to them... I think ?
Kreza23 at 12:11 PM JST - 22nd April

westurn - Why is it that you make stuff up?

Throw in the fact that Italy, France, and Argentina only have one gold medal each and it seems pretty clear that the Olympics is nothing more than a feeder program for the national team... which explains why the likes of "Tevez Cristiano Ronaldo Ronahldino Roberto Carlos and Etoo etal" playing !

A feeder program for the national team? Thanks for stating the obvious. The Olympics are restricted to players who are under 23 years of age (other than being allowed to have I believe 3 over-aged players). Which would mean that your

Again, Japan sends teams with the idea of winning at all costs. The other nations use this tournement to look at young players and build their national team.

is completely off-base. They go by the same rules as everybody else and send players who are under 23 years of age. If you don't know anything about Japan's Olympic team, why make bogus claims about them?

Close ??? Yeh after the Americans filled the second half line-up with their university and high school kids ! Booya !

No they didn't. They sent in players like Eddie Johnson and Brian Ching, regulars on the 2006 World Cup team. Japan didn't send any of their European-based players like Nakata or Nakamura, and while the States didn't exactly field their best team possible, they played the entire game with Landon Donovan, arguably their best player. Again, though, Japan didn't send a team "with the idea of winning at all costs", like you claim, and that wasn't even the point of bringing up that game. The point is, that game has absolutely nothing to do with the up-coming Olympic games, seeing that those were National team friendlies, while the Olympics is for their under-23 squads.
westurn at 08:45 PM JST - 22nd April

kreza23...

"It explains why international football powerhouses like Brazil, West Germany, and The Netherlands have never won the Gold ! Hell even team USA has more medals than the West Germans ! Throw in the fact that Italy, France, and Argentina only have one gold medal each and it seems pretty clear that the Olympics is nothing more than a feeder program for the national team..."

Care to explain which part of this is "made up ?"

As for team Japan...

"They go by the same rules as everybody else and send players who are under 23 years of age. If you don't know anything about Japan's Olympic team, why make bogus claims about them?"

Again... what bogus claim ? I sense some reading comprehension issues here. I never said Japan sent older players did I ? Now look who's making things up ! I clearly stated "that Japan send teams with the idea of winning at all costs"... nothing about age ! Why the obvious slanting and twisting of words ?

Finally on team USA whoopin' up on Japan the last time they met... some agreement !

"while the States didn't exactly field their best team possible"

You got that right... care to post "all" the names of the players taking the field in the second half of that match ? Yep, far from Americas best... in fact, many have been cut since !

You keep workin' it Kreza23, but I'm wilin' to bet I'm gonna have the last laugh when the USA teams face off against Japan come tourney time !
Kreza23 at 12:04 AM JST - 23rd April

westurn

Again, Japan sends teams with the idea of winning at all costs. The other nations use this tournement to look at young players and build their national team. Explains why Japan has an overinflated opinion of itself in soccer.

Perhaps there is a problem with my reading-comprehension skills as you claim, but I would think that for most people, that comment would suggest that Japan is NOT using this "tournement" to look at young players and build their national team. Which is why I brought up the under-23 point. They clearly are using this to give younger players some international experience. So what exactly is it that leads you to believe that Japan is sending a team to win at all costs? And how does what they're doing differ from, let's say the US?

Close ??? Yeh after the Americans filled the second half line-up with their university and high school kids ! Booya !

OK, then who were the high school and university kids that the US brought in to play in the second-half? What's that? There were none? They brought in six subs, and not a single one of them was a high school or college player at the time.

You keep workin' it Kreza23, but I'm wilin' to bet I'm gonna have the last laugh when the USA teams face off against Japan come tourney time !

To be completely honest westurn, I wish the Japanese team well, but I really don't think this age group is very good. Their current U-20 squad and even younger age brackets are much better and I'm looking forward to seeing them in the future. As for the U-23 team, they are an extremely frustrating team that is kinda boring to watch. Hopefully we get to see Freddy Adu play in this tournament though. Haven't had a chance to actually see him yet.
thepossum at 10:58 PM JST - 30th April

Westurn is right ! In the US/Japan friendly in Frisco the US used all but one sub, Japan left six on the bench ! Japan was tryin' like hell to win that thing. Safe to say, the US will put the wood to Japan, as will Nigeria !