Japanese Players in Europe

Shinji Kagawa scored in the 7th minute as Dortmund hammered Cologne 5-0. Incredibly the win moves the reigning champions into 2nd place, which is astonishing considering their poor start to the season. It was Kagawa’s 2nd goal of the season. Dortmund were excellent, and back to the form that saw them win the Bundesliga at a canter last year. Tomoaki Makino did not make it off the bench for Cologne.

Yuto Nagatomo played the entire ninety minutes as Inter beat Chievo 1-0. Thiago Motta’s lone goal was enough to earn Inter just their second league win of the season, and lifting them to 16th place. Yes, 16th.

Maya Yoshida scored again as VVV Venlo hammered RKC Waalwijk 4-1 on Saturday. However, they are still in the relegation zone.

Shinji Okazaki played 76 minutes in Stuttgart’s 2-2 draw with Nurnberg on Saturday. They are currently in 5th place in the Bundesliga.

Makoto Hasebe played all 90 minutes of Wolfsburg’s 1-1 draw with Hamburg. They remain in 11th place.

Hajime Hosogai played all 90 minutes of Augsburg’s 1-1 draw with Bremen. Augsburg remain in the relegation zone.

Takayuki Morimoto played 60 minutes before being subbed off in Novara’s 3-0 loss to table-toppers Udinese. He was booked in the 15th minute.

Masahiko Inoha scored in the 60th minute in Hajduk Split’s 3-0 win over Lucko on Friday. No, I did not watch this match, but good for him that he scored.

Takashi Usami played all 90 minutes of Bayern II’s 2-1 win over Hessen Kassel. I don’t know if he played well, but the win moves the reserves up to 14th in the Regionalliga Sud standings.

Japanese Players in Europe

This past week of fixtures was a bit more successful for Japanese players in Europe.

Shinji Kagawa got his first goal for Dortmund this season, with a tidy finish. However Dortmund ended up losing 2-1 at home to Hannover to continue their appalling start to the season. They are now already 8 points behind leaders Bayern.

Atsuto Uchida played the full 90 minutes of Schalke’s 2-0 loss at home to rivals Bayern. Compatriot Takashi Usami was on the opposing bench but did not feature.

Makoto Hasebe started in midfield in Wolfsburg’s 3-1 loss at Hoffenheim, and incredibly finished the game as the keeper. He played the final nine minutes in goal, as first-choice keeper Marvin Hitz was sent off. Hasebe could not save the ensuing penalty.

Takayuki Morimoto scored his first goal for Novara in a 2-1 loss at Cagliari. His deflected shot looped over the keeper to get Novara a consolation goal. During the midweek, Morimoto was influential in the sacking of Gianpiero Gasperini as Novara stunned Inter 3-1. Morimoto played well, linking the midfield with strike-partner Riccardo Meggiorini. He also earned a penalty that gave Novara a late 2-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Yuto Nagatomo played the full 90 minutes of both Inter’s 0-0 weekend draw with Roma and the disappointing loss at Novara. He played well against Novara and created many chances, however the team looked disjointed in its new 3-4-3 formation.

Finally, Ryo Miyaichi made his highly anticipated first team debut for Arsenal in their 3-1 Carling Cup win over Shrewsbury. He came on in the 71st minute for fellow debutant and South Korean captain Chu-Young Park. Let’s hope this is the beginning of an incredible career at Arsenal for Ryo.