Japan Will Crush Hong Kong

Hong Kong, didn't your mother ever tell you to turn off the laser lights when you're not using them?

If history is any indicator, Japan should walk all over Hong Kong like Chuck Taylors on a New York City sidewalk. Just over a month ago, Japan handed Hong Kong a spanking befit for a drunk father catching his son's hand in the cookie jar. The 6-0 win for Japan, where Shinji Okazaki recorded a hat trick, could have actually been worse as Japan squandered a few more golden scoring opportunities. What does this all mean leading up to tomorrow's AFC Cup 2011 Qualifier? Well, it means that I'm not going too much time with formation or squad predictions on this one. I will, however, predict the scoreline: 5-0 with a standard deviation of 3 goals. Yep, 3-0 if Japan plays its worst, 8-0 if Japan comes out hot and heavy.

In other news, the JFA has apparently joined the ranks of irate football nations and asked for a World Cup ban on the trumpet "fly noise" instrument, known as the vuvuzela, common in South African football matches. If you watched any of the Confederations Cup or Japan and South Africa's match a few days ago, then you know the instrument I speak of. The loud buzzing noise drowns out so much sound that players on the pitch are unable to hear each other communicate.

They say that one vuvuzela makes the noise of 1 million flies simultaneously reaching orgasm; okay I made that up.

Broadcasters hate the noise because it makes annoying television, and some football fans argue that the instrument detracts from fans' contributions to momentum as the buzzing takes a constant non-partisan stance that drowns out any chants, songs, or sounds of encouragement from the live audience's impact on the game.

Japan coach, Takeshi Okada, even went as far to make this comment, "Perhaps if (South Africa) play good football (the fans) will be quiet and watch." That's quite a dig from a team who only succeeded in attaining a goalless draw. While I understand the sentiment of the players, broadcasters, fans, and insulting coaches, its my opinion that the point of varying host nations is for the sporting community to embrace the host's sporting culture as guests. In South Africa, the vuvuzela is just how the fans roll. They shouldn't be asked to change in order to accommodate their guests.

Also, making news: Japan and Urawa Reds Center Back Marcus Tulio Tanaka has announced his intention to leave the J-League for a Middle East or European club and will "make up his mind by November 25." Good move? Bad move? More on this to follow when details become evident.

What can I say, the guy has weird hair.

Let me know, as always, what you think of Hong Kong's chances, Japan's outrage over the obnoxious fly kazoo, and/or Tulio's indecision to leave or stay in Japan. Post a comment or send me an e-mail.

Okada-san: "Perhaps if they play good football (the flies) will be quiet and watch."
Giant Fly: "Look me in the eyes and say it, douchebag!"

Japan 0 – South Africa 0; Japan's Reality Check

Well this one was a wake up call for the Nihon Daihyo. Coming off of a 3 match stretch where they outscored their opponents 13-0, the team from Japan failed to find the back of the net yesterday. In what appeared to be a throwback to the offensive-inept team of old, Japan controlled the majority of possession, but the Blue Samurai could not pull the trigger and capitalize on all of their hard work.

Give credit where its due, the South Africans were no push overs and disrupted the passing attack of Japan time and time again. To be perfectly honest, this was a fairly boring match, as there wasn't much offense from either team, and anytime a match ends in a draw I think you wind up wishing that you had just rest about the outcome in the paper the next game instead of having wasted 90 minutes of your time. Japan had a few chances that if not for some fine keeper play from South Africa could have easily altered the score line. Bafana Bafana's best chance for goal came in the 68^th when a clever cherry picking play left Yuji Nakazawa to head the ball back to Kawashima, Japan's goal keeper, a split second before the Bafana striker could put a toe to it.

I don't really have much to say in terms of analysis. Takayuki Morimoto was sorely missed and its hard to imagine Japan getting anywhere without him alongside Shinji Okazaki up front. Okubo and Koroki played opposite Okazaki and looked just as invisible as they have in the past. Its becoming more clear with every match that Japan has absolutely no depth at forward. If either Okazaki or Morimoto have fitness issues come next June, don't count on Japan scoring many goals.

Another realization was the importance of Shunsuke Nakamura's presence on the pitch. Not making his appearance until the middle of the second half, Shunsuke came in and inspired a very flat team. Keisuke Honda, whom Shunsuke replaced, was responsible for a countless amount of stolen passes and was guilty of holding the ball in many situations when passing opportunities presented themselves. Honda still has more to learn in terms of team-play.

All in all, a decent but not extraordinary effort from team Japan. If this match served any purpose, it brought the Nihon Daihyo back to Earth from a marvelous string of previous performances and highlighted the places where we still have room for improvement. We will take on Hong Kong on Wednesday in a rematch from the last 6-0 win for Japan.

Also, the site of the match, Nelson Mandela Stadium in Port Elizabeth was built just for the World Cup. Hats off to the South Africa for building a beautiful stadium and doing it on time.

Oh, and the Blue Samurai decided to sport their new jerseys today. They would probably have looked better if they had played better.

Watch the match highlights here.

Japan versus South Africa

The Blue Samurai are getting acquainted with South Africa early and will play a friendly against the South African "Bafana Bafana" squad tomorrow. Hopefully, the Japanese players are scoping out the local food joints so that they'll know where the best deals on shrimp scampi are when they're back in town next year. I also think that they are tuning their ears to the incredibly hilarious English spoken by the South Africans. Please, if you are South African, do not take offense. I mean "incredibly hilarious English" in the best way possible.

Actually, there have been reports coming from the Japanese media that the players are on lock down with a "be in bed by sundown" curfew as South Africa has been known to have a high murder rate, vampire to human ratio, and District Nine. The South Africans were, of course, offended by these reports, claiming that the country is reasonably safe as long as you walk around carrying a loaded gun with silver bullets to deter the werewolves.

Its reasonable that the South Africans would show disdain for a Japanese contingency too afraid to dance in the moonlight. As they are hosting the biggest sporting event in four years (maybe the Olympics are bigger?), the country does not want to highlight its dangerous side in the wake of a massive immigration of the World's best football teams, their fans, and most importantly -the money and tourism boost they bring along with them.

Apparently, the Japanese players are suggesting the rumors of a curfew were fabricated. I'm not sure, and think it could just be a ploy to save face; but what does any of this matter? Let us move on to why you are really here. Football Talk.

Japan Squad:

Keepers:
Eiji Kawashima (Frontale)
Shusaku Nishikawa (Trinita)

Defenders:
Yuji Nakazawa (Marinos)
Yuichi Komano (Jubilo)
Daiki Iwamasa (Antlers)
Atsuto Uchida (Antlers)
Yasuyuki Konno (Tokyo)
Yuhei Tokunaga (Tokyo)
Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Urawa)

Midfielders:
Shunsuke Nakamura (Espanyol)
Yasuhito Endo (Gamba)
Daisuke Matsui (Grenoble)
Yuki Abe (Reds)
Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg)
Keisuke Honda (Venlo)
Junichi Inamoto (Rennes)

Forwards:
Keiji Tamada (Grampus)
Hisato Sato (Sanfrecce)
Yoshito Okubo (Vissel)
Shinji Okazaki (S-Pulse)
Takayuki Morimoto (Catania)*

*Doubtful due to injury

What we are looking at here is essentially the same squad that we have seen in recent matches, but with a few major differences. On defense, we will be without sideback Yuto Nagatomo. Most likely, we will see Yuichi Komano filling in as he has played very nicely in the opportunities that he has been awarded when either Nagatomo or Uchida have been missing. In midfield we lose Kengo Nakamura to injury. While Kengo Naka has played very consistently well, it would be a far stretch to claim that he is in-expendable, as midfield is very deep for Japan. Expect Keisuke Honda to get the call up in his place. Takayuki Morimoto is nursing an ankle injury and is doubtful to play this match. Probably the most disappointing news of all, Mori looked so promising in the last couple matches that I'm sure all of Japan's fans have been salivating to see more.

Probable Formation:

Barring Okada going mental and reverting back to his ineffective 4-5-1 formation, I think he has learned his lesson and will stick with the 4-4-2.

Kawashima

Uchida ------ Nakazawa ------ Tulio ------ Komano

Hasebe ------ Endo

Honda ------ Nakamura

Okazaki ------ Tamada or Okubo

A decent line up for Japan. Obviously if you could substitute Morimoto's name for Tamada/Okubo the team would seem much more threatening in attack. Still I would say that this is very close to the starting eleven for next year's World Cup with question marks at keeper which could go back to Narazaki, side back: Komano or Nagatomo ftw, and striker opposite Okazaki as we discussed previously.

Bafana Bafana:

The South Africans will hopefully put up a better fight then their African compatriots Togo did in our last 5-0 thrashing. You can never count out the importance of home field advantage, and the 12th man will surely play a factor in this match.

Still, the Bafana Bafana have reason to worry as they have won only one of their last 8 matches, and face a Japan team that has been steam rolling opponents as of late. They have much to prove in front of their home fans.

Playmakers and Everton midfiedler, Steven Pienaar has been scratched from the squad due to injury. Probably the most signifiant blow to South Africa, they will have to look for other players to step up to fill the void. One such player could be Benni McCarthy, striker for the Blackburn Rovers. McCarthy, at only 27 years of age is South Africa's all-time top goalscorer and second most capped player. His caps lag only behind captain and defender Aaron Mokoena of Portsmouth. These two have had plenty of experience playing in the English Premier League and will not be intimidated by a team of mainly J. League status.

My Prediction (for what its worth):

Japan have been playing far too well lately to expect any less. I say Okazaki continues his hot streak by netting once. Also, I say that Nakamura inspires us with a great set piece either from a free-kick or he finds the head of Tulio or Nakazawa. Benni McCarthy does his thing and finds paydirt but its not enough for Japan's possession midfield.

Blue Samurai 2 - Bafana Bafana 1

New World Cup Home Jerseys

The JFA has released the new jersey that we will wear for our "home" matches in South Africa. At first I didn't really know what to think of the design, but its been growing on me little by little. The biggest difference with this new jersey relative to the old, is the addition of the Japanese flag above the JFA emblem, and the red bit on the neckline. The flag is a welcome addition, but I can imagine that the red may be a point of contention for the fashionistas out there. I'm going to go ahead and say that I like it, it breaks up the monotony of the blue and seems to give the jersey an edge that it didn't have before. Leave comments or send e-mail feedback and let me know what you think. Also, if any of you have an idea of where one can purchase reasonably priced Blue Samurai apparel, please send me a link. I've had a number of readers asking about where they could make wise purchases.

We're still waiting on the release of the "Away" jerseys.

Also, the Blue Samurai take on the South Africans in South Africa this Saturday the 14th. More on that to follow.