Japan no longer has World Cup fate in own hands

By JOJI SAKURAI

World Cup Jun. 22, 2014 - 03:18PM JST ( 13 )

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13 Comments

8

smithinjapanJun. 22, 2014 - 03:45PM JST

"“if we had converted them, the match would have been different."

Ya think? And if anything else had happened the outcome would have been different. The unfortunate reality is that you did NOT convert any of the chances. The same can be said for the Greeks, as well as any team who couldn't. So, do your best to convert the next chances into goals.
-2

some14someJun. 22, 2014 - 04:14PM JST

Simply put : Japan No Longer Has World Cup In Hands.
8

M3M3M3Jun. 22, 2014 - 04:21PM JST

I had to read this article twice to understand it.

Is the reference to the Happy Science cult basically completely irrelevant and off topic? When Nagamoto is quoted as saying "if we had converted them", are they using sports jargon to refer to the 'chances' or is Nagamoto talking about 'converting' the Greeks to the Happy Science cult?

Seems like such a poor selection of words considering the opening line of the article.
2

albaleoJun. 22, 2014 - 05:11PM JST

"to help prepare mentally"

I hope they made good use of the opportunity. At times, the players look a little uptight, and play with a kind of schoolboy sincerity, which can be nice but a little naive. "We want to play our own game", they say. Don't we all. I like to think the day's activities involved some cross-dressing, followed by light spanking from the Patriotic Wives of Japan. It works wonders for rugby players. Anyway, time for my medication.
3

JimizoJun. 22, 2014 - 06:54PM JST

What a strange article.
1

tmarieJun. 22, 2014 - 08:31PM JST

Blah blah blah.... Are they flying back first class??
1

StormRJun. 22, 2014 - 09:25PM JST

Honda said they can win the world cup so its good as done, don't despair
2

jerseyboyJun. 22, 2014 - 09:48PM JST

Japan no longer has World Cup fate in own hands

Actually its fate was never in its "own hands". It was in its feet and heads -- and those have both let them down.
-2

Elbuda MexicanoJun. 22, 2014 - 11:25PM JST

No team has fate in its own hands, just ask the Germans after their humiliating draw against GHANA! I do not think Colombia will go easy on Japan, they may not put their best players in that match but that is because their level of playing is way better than the Japanese and by the way COLOMBIA is NOT in Central America! From Guatemala down to Panama is Central America, from Colombia down to Argentina is SOUTH America!!
1

techallJun. 22, 2014 - 11:33PM JST

“Obviously we all need to stay fit but if we do the basics right 100%, no mistakes, we can get to the quarterfinals. From there we can make miracles happen.”
-Keisuke Honda, June 10-
-1

veejayJun. 22, 2014 - 11:36PM JST

As long as Japanese gambare the fantasy will hold
3

JimizoJun. 23, 2014 - 12:17AM JST

'No team has fate in its own hands, just ask the Germans after their humiliating draw against GHANA!'

Ghana are an excellent side worthy of anybody's respect. They were cheated from a semi-final place in 2010 by a handball. Calling this a humiliation for Germany is an insult to a fine Ghana team with top class players.
-1

tmarieJun. 23, 2014 - 01:20PM JST

What is humilating about as draw with a good team??