Japan vs. Argentina – International Friendly – Half Time Report
The match was supposed to be a thriller as the Blue Samurais were ready to face a strong South American team. Despite the fact that the Argentineans had a new coach after the FIFA World Cup 2010, they still managed to show great form against the World Champions
Spain as they totally destroyed them on South American soil with a 4-1 victory over them.
The Japanese side also had a new coach after the FIFA World Cup 2010 as the previous coach was criticized about his “over defensive” stance. The newly assigned Italian coach Alberto Zoccherano was expected to change things round and he totally did change
things as he took charge of the Japanese team.
The list of players for the Argentineans was a long one but it was clear that the Inter Milan captain and the experienced Javier Zenetti was not to feature as a right back because of a chest injury that he suffered during the club matches. However, the Barcelona
star Lionel Messi was to feature for the Argentinean side.
On the other hand, the Japanese side did feature their only star during the World Cup, Keisuke Honda. The Japanese were playing their full team as they were ready to defeat the Argentineans on their home ground.
The Argentineans were playing their number one Sergio Romero between the two poles as a goal stopper as he was assisted by Nicolas Burdisso, Gabriel Milito, Gabriel Heinze and Martin Demichelis at the back. Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Mascherano played
as defensive midfielders while Andres D’Alessandro featured as a central attacking midfielder. There was a bit of a surprise up front as Gonzalo Higuain was benched for the Inter Milan striker Diego Milito while Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi featured on the
wings.
For the Japanese, Eiji Kawashima was playing as a goalkeeper with Atsuto Uchida, Yuto Nagatomo, Daisuke Matsui and Makote Hasebe at the back. Kengo Nakamora featured as a holding midfielder with Keisuke Honda and Yasuhito Endo playing as central attacking
midfielders. Yasayuki Konno was the right winger with Takayuki Morimoto on the left wing. Shinji Okazaki was the only striker for the team as he featured up front.
The match started off with the Argentineans trying to dominate the game in the opposition’s half. While the Argentineans were busy trying to score a goal with their new striker Diego Milito in the starting line up, the Blue Samurais kept on trying to protect
their goal and wanted to play counter attacking football.
It was early during the 19th minute when the crowd sitting in the Saitama stadium, Japan jumped up with joy as the home team scored a goal against one of the toughest sides in football, Argentina. While the Japanese were busy celebrating a goal
that came off from the right foot of Shinji Okazaki, the Argentinean defence was simply left stranding as a mistake from Sergio Romero was well served by the home side and a deflected shot saw the net with the help of Okazaki’s wonderful finish.
After the first goal, the Argentineans started to play their usual attacking football and kept on moving forward to score a goal so that they go back on level terms. During the 33rd minute, the fans saw the introduction of Gonzalo Higuain while
Diego Milito joined his Argentinean fellows on the bench.
The Argentineans then went back at attacking and the best try came on during the 38th minute when Lionel Messi won a free kick outside the 18 yard box. The Barcelona man took the free kick himself and a beautiful left footed curled shot into the
top corner was well saved by Kawashima. The deflected shot earned the Argentineans a corner which was well defended by the Japanese side.
Right before the half time whistle, the Inter Milan sensation Esteban Cambiasso was taken off as Mario Bolatti took his place in the field. However, Bolatti was to feature as a centre midfielder and not as a defensive midfielder. Now Mascherano was the only
holding player in the squad with Bolatti a little ahead of him and Allesandro playing as an attacking midfielder.
The first half ended with the Argentineans trailing behind the Japanese. The Blue Samurais were well organized throughout the game and were defending their goal well; however, over defensive stance would not really help them throughout the game as players
like Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain are experts in breaking down defences.
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