World Cup 2010: Lack of Cohesion Leaves Japan with Problems
Picture this scenario, as the game drew to a close, the cameras turned to the Japanese bench with just two players in view. Keisuke Honda and Shunsuke Nakamura, with an empty seat separating them, were looking miserable and thoughtful as they watched South Korea complete a deserved 2-0 win in front of almost 60,000 fans at the Saitama Stadium. It was the only time the pair seemed to be on similar wavelengths in the entire duration of the game. The point being, that there is clearly very little motivation and just about no level of team cohesion in the Japanese team.
When Park Chu-young scored his penalty just past the outstretched arm of Seigo Narazaki in the last minute, the striker condemned the hosts to a third defeat at home in four games. It was the second time that Korea had won in less than four months and came just seven weeks after a 3-0 loss to a second string Serbia side in Osaka. There were excuses in the earlier losses as Japan had been without their overseas stars - though Korea in February and Serbia in April could say the same.
The defence actually played reasonably well. The backline, as well as the midfield, fell asleep just in the fifth minute. Few imagined though that Park Ji-sung, a player coming into form at the right time and a player who said before the game that he felt Japan are not as strong as in the past, would have fashioned an opener, given the distance from the goal when he picked up the ball and the number of blue shirts standing in his way. It was going forward that Japan looked clueless. It was not only Honda, who started behind the lone striker but wandered far and wide for the ball, and Nakamura who seemed to have little idea of how to play together.
With three such technically gifted players seemingly unsure of what each other was doing and unable to work together, Shinji Okazaki was isolated for much of the match and Korean goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryeong had few saves to make. The introduction of Takayuki Morimoto in the second half to play alongside Okazaki added a little bit of bite to attack but it was too little too late. In isolation, it is a bad result but following some of the score-lines and performances this year so far – the goalless draws with China and Venezuela, the 3-1 defeat against Korea and the 3-0 loss to Serbia – that is five home games in which Japan has scored once, and that was from the penalty spot.
For fans, it was a familiar story although unlike against Serbia, the Samurai Blue didn’t even create any clear openings. The lack of a good Plan B is very obvious. When things don’t go Japan’s way, the team seems to have little idea of what to do. This is worrying enough against South Korea in front of 60,000 passionate home fans, when it comes against the Netherlands, Cameroon and Denmark in South Africa, it could be far more serious. For the coach, the match was all about the result and it was a failure. After the match, he said that the Japan FA president, who voiced his displeasure after the game, had told him to carry on. There is nothing else that can be done at this late stage. Japan is now on their way to Europe to play their final warm-up games against England and Ivory Coast.
Rarely has a team left its shore for the World Cup under such a cloud, especially one that has repeatedly talked of a last four finish. After months of below-par performances, there may still be little time to turns things round but time is something which is fast running out. Also disappearing is any belief that Okada can produce cohesive and passionate performances from his men. If Japan don’t improve, and improve quickly, they will be one of the first teams to go home.
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