Away Jerseys and Some International News

You would look great in this jersey!

The white World Cup jerseys are in and they are sweeeeet. If you are in Japan, please rob an Adidas store and mail me about 50 of these jerseys. I will then mail them out to the first 49 readers who say they want one and keep one for myself, of course. Oh, and while you're at it, can you also mail me some takoyaki and umeboshi please. In return, I will ask everyone on this blog to direct 1 minute of positive energy your way with specific instruction to focus on having Kate Beckinsale come make babies with you. If you're caught by the Japanese police in the process, I will erase this blog post ASAP, and deny any involvement in the matter, but still ask my readers to direct 1 minute of positive energy asking for Kate Beckinsale to pay you a conjugal visit. Its a win-win really.

In international news, Japanese national and former Nagoya Grampus defender signed with Keisuke Honda's old team, VVV-Venlo in the Eredvisie, only to injure his thigh in one of his first practices with the new team. Expect him to be excluded from the World Cup team.

Honda, on the other hand, has transferred to CSKA Moscow, and looks to have made an early impact. In a friendly against Xamax, Honda scored one of two goals in a 2:2 draw. He will make his official debut in a Champions League match against Sevilla on 24 February.

Will it be Kawashima or Narazaki who dons the keeper shirt?

Takayuki Morimoto may have regained some of his goal scoring ability as he came on as a late substitute and put away a 3-0 win for Catania over Parma. The latest goal puts him at 5 goals in 21 appearances this season. Last season, which was considered to be his breakout, gave him 9 in 24, so we'd like and expect Taka to pick up the pace here.

Daisuke Matsui came out and put on a show for Grenoble in a 3-2 overtime win against Montpellier. He scored one and set up one.

Shinji Ono has returned to the J League and signed with Shimizu S-Pulse. He leaves behind one year at Bochum, his second European stint, with hope that his presence in the domestic league will catch the attention of coach, Takeshi Okada, and win him a role in the WC team. As I am always against Japanese players returning home from Europe, I still wish Ono the best of luck to receive a call up as I consider him a very quality player.

Junichi Inamoto has also returned to Japan and has signed with Kawasaki Frontale. Inamoto's European stint lasted for 10 years with 7 teams in 4 different leagues. Inamoto, like Ono, hopes to secure a position on the WC squad. He has earned call-ups in several recent matches and has performed well.

Finally, the Samurai Blue have a friendly coming up against Venezuela on 2 February. Okada has named a squad of entirely domestic players, and all familiar faces. One name that has drawn a lot of media attention is 30 year old midfielder Mitsuo Ogasawara. Ogasawara has recorded 53 caps for the national team and claimed 7 goals in the process. He has dominated the J League and earned the player of the year award in 2009. However, Okada has been reluctant to call him up the national squad, as he has expressed the belief that the midfield depth is too deep to call up another midfield general who may clout the leadership responsibilities that have already been assigned. His point is that, with players like Shunsuke Nakamura, Endo, Kengo Nakamura, and Hasebe, there is little room for another vocal midfield leader to try and stake his place. His recent call-up has drawn criticism from the media, who have suggested that calling up Ogasawara is a tell for a lack of confidence of the team that Okada has coached in the past year. Personally, I feel that if Ogasawara is as good or better of a player than the current midfield selection, he should at least be given a chance to make the team, especially at a time when perennial Japan icon, Shunsuke Nakamura has shown poor form for his Spanish club, Espanyol.

More to come about the Venezuela friendly later.