Sota Hirayama. Ever heard of him? He made a big impact at a young age by playing for the 04 Olympic team as a high schooler, and representing the youth Japanese team on several occasions. His professional debut was made in the Eredivisie with Heracles Almelo.
On Wednesday, the 24 year old striker made his senior squad debut and played a dream match. Being down 2-0, the young and unaccomplished Japanese squad looked sunk. Then the huge 1.93m Hirayama, Japanese Colossus, to bring back Japan in Disney Sports Movie fashion.
While his impressive performance has certainly put him on the World Cup team map, at best his prospects would be a spot on our bench. Still, his huge target frame could be an intriguing addition up front to the quicker strikers and attacking midfielders that we usually employ.
One casualty that Japan suffered was the loss of Naoki Yamada, the 19 year old midfielder from Urawa Red Diamonds and a sure future Japanese star. During the match, he suffered a fractured calf bone and will surely be out for the extent of the 2010 World Cup.
The win over Yemen qualified Japan for the 2011 Asian Cup finals.
No comments:
Post a Comment