Japanese Players In Europe

Hiroshi Kiyotake celebrates scoring the winner against Borussia Monchengladbach

Japanese players had a great weekend in Europe, especially in Germany where three players scored their first Bundesliga goals.

FC Nurnberg’s 3-2 away win at Borussia Monchengladbach might end up being remembered by viewers as the game in which Hiroshi Kiyotake showed Germany exactly how good he is. Kiyotake put in a masterful performance against last year’s fourth place team, setting up two and scoring the winner (his first Bundesliga goal). In the 17^thminute, he delivered an excellent freekick from the left that was headed in by Timm Klose. Then in the 25^th minute, it was a corner kick that was headed in by Timmy Simons for a 2-0 lead. Monchengladbach fought back to equalize, led on by the impressive Patrick Herrmann. But Kiyotake ensured that Nurnberg got all three points and continued their excellent start to the season, scoring the winner in the 55^th after a determined run and an outstanding right-foot finish from outside the box. The goal came just two minutes after Granit Xhaka had equalized for Monchengladbach.

In addition to the assists and goal, Kiyotake was outstanding throughout, playing small passes and leading the counterattack as Monchengladbach controlled possession. He was constantly on the move, always providing an option for teammates to pass to. The Monchengladbach defenders found him hard to defend, as he kept the ball with his control and agility. Nurnberg fans are surely excited about their new number 13 and what the team can achieve this season. They are in 6^th place and undefeated through three rounds.

Eintracht Frankfurt are off to an even better start, perfect through their first three matches. They beat Hamburg 3-2 at home this weekend, and Takashi Inui opened the scoring in the 13^th minute with his first Bundesliga goal. After getting the ball from a defensive mix-up, Inui glided through two defenders with a quick feint and curled in past Rene Adler. The goal looked like one that Luka Modric would score, a player that Inui is similar in style to. Like Kiyotake, Inui played well throughout. He was substituted in the 79^th minute. Frankfurt are in second place on goal difference, behind Bayern. On the other hand, Hamburg look like they are in real trouble this season and could end up being relegated, something they narrowly avoided last season.

One place below Hamburg, in last on goal difference, is Hoffenheim. This weekend they lost 5-3 away at SC Freiburg in an entertaining match. Takashi Usami was given a starting place and scored a fantastic goal, his first in the Bundesliga. After taking the lead in the 2^nd minute, they were behind 2-1 by the 27^th. They equalized in the 57^thbut were pegged back again in the 68^th. Usami equalized in the 76^th minute with an unstoppable shot, but Freiburg scored twice in the final ten minutes to send Hoffenheim to their fourth straight loss in all competitions. Max Kruse was the standout player for Freiburg. In his first start of the season, Usami played well in addition to scoring his outstanding goal in what was a difficult match. It was an encouraging performance from Hoffenhim, though that won’t ease the pressure on manager Markus Babbel. They will try to get their first points at home against Hannover this weekend.

Keisuke Honda scored both goals in a 2-0 home win over FC Alaniya. For the first, he passed to Ahmed Musa who drew four defenders before passing back to Honda on the edge of the box. Wide open, Honda rifled into goal. For the second, Musa again found Honda, this time with a left side cross which Honda put in first time.

Mike Havenaar scored and set up another, leading Vitesse to a 3-0 win over Groningen. The goal was his first of the season. After struggling in the first half, Vitesse threw on Mike to energize the attack. The move paid huge dividends, with Mike opening the scoring in the 62^nd before setting up Tomas Kalas for the second. He headed in a Patrick van Aanholt cross for his goal and led a two on one break before passing to Kalas to set up the second. His presence gave the Vitesse forward line a focal point through which to attack. It was Vitesse’s fifth straight win in all competitions and they remain unbeaten in the Eredivisie. They are in second on 13^th points, behind Twente who remain perfect.

Stuttgart played out a goalless at home to Fortuna Dusseldorf. Shinji Okazaki came off the bench for Tamas Hajnal in the 86^th. Gotoku Sakai was not included in the squad.

Shinji Kagawa was an unused substitute in Manchester United’s 4-0 win over Wigan. He was rested as he recovered from an injury that kept him out of Japan’s 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Iraq last week. Ryo Miyaichi was also an unused substitute, for Wigan.

Maya Yoshida was given a rough introduction to the Premier League in Southampton’s 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Arsenal at the Emirates. Yoshida was not in the starting lineup but was brought on in the 28^th after Jos Hooiveld, who had already scored an own-goal, was forced off through injury. He couldn’t prevent the second, a curling freekick from Lukas Podolski, but he was taken to the cleaners by Gervinho for the third. Yoshida was completely fooled by Gervinho’s stop and start run, but wasn’t helped by Daniel Fox who didn’t seem to be at all interested in covering the space behind. Gervinho went through on goal and beat Kelvin Davis at this near post.

Yuto Nagatomo started and played the full 90 minutes of Inter’s 2-0 away win at Torino.

Hiroshi Ibusuki scored for AS Eupen in a 2-2 home draw with CS Vise, a Belgian 2^nd Division match that I did not watch.

In other news, Japan beat Iraq 1-0 in World Cup qualifying last week. Ryoichi Maeda scored the only goal in the 25^thminute after great work by Okazaki. Japan dominated the game but couldn’t increase their lead. However, Iraq hardly had the ball and were didn’t really threaten. It was a comfortable win for Japan that confirmed the team’s need for a few more finishers.

Japanese Players In Europe

Shinji Kagawa struggled against an excellent Southampton midfield.

Shinji Kagawa started in the No.10 position for Manchester United in their 3-2 win at Southampton. In the opening minutes, United kept possession and pinned Southampton inside their own box with quick passes. However, after weathering this initial storm, Southampton came into the game and outplayed United for the majority of the first half. Ricky Lambert headed them into the lead, rising easily over Rafael and leaving Anders Lindegaard with no chance. If not for an untimely slip from fullback Nathaniel Clyne, allowing Robin van Persie to equalize, Southampton could’ve gone into the break with the lead. Southampton continued to play well in the second half and looked to have collected all three points going into the last five minutes with a 2-1 lead. However, van Persie scored twice to snatch the win for United and steal a first league win for Southampton.

Kagawa struggled in this game and was substituted for Nani in the 61st minute. In the Fulham match, Kagawa was brushed aside and lost possession several times against the massive Moussa Dembele. The physical side of the Premier League is something that he will, like all newcomers, take time to adapt to. While it’s not every week that he will face a midfield power/dynamo combo like Dembele, every team throws around its weight in the middle of the park, as Southampton showed. Morgan Schneiderlin and young James Ward-Prowse were outstanding and powered through a relatively delicate United midfield. It is no wonder that all of United’s goals were set up on the wing. There will be games like this for Kagawa as he gets used to the burly side to Premier League football. Tadanari Lee was an unused substitute, while Maya Yoshida was unavailable.

Stuttgart is stuck on 0 points in the Bundesliga after they were obliterated 6-1 by Bayern, a match that both Shinji Okazaki and Gotoku Sakai started. Okazaki was caught in possession by Luis Gustavo Dias for Bayern’s second goal. Gustavo played the ball to Toni Kroos who lashed in an unstoppable shot past Sven Ulreich.

Sakai was also caught in possession, for Bayern’s fourth goal. To his credit, after he was dispossessed by Kroos, Sakai raced across the pitch to heroically block Thomas Muller’s shot. However, he could only watch in despair as the ball rolled to Mario Mandzukic who tapped in.

Okazaki was subbed off in the 69th while Sakai played the entire 90 minutes. Not a great day for either of them, but it was Bayern and it is still early in the season.

Hiroshi Kiyotake started and played the entire match as FC Nurnberg drew 1-1 at home to Dortmund. Kiyotake set up Tomas Peckhart for Nurnberg’s goal with a corner. Nurnberg weren’t without their chances and did not hesitate to attack against the reigning champions.

Schalke beat Augsburg 3-1 at home, and Atsuto Uchida started and played the entire match at rightback.

Eintracht Frankfurt dealt Hoffenheim a heavy 4-0 home defeat. Takashi Inui started for Eintracht and was credited an assist for the first goal. He set up Alex Meier and the shot found its way into net, though only after a massive deflection off of Marvin Compper. Takashi Usami came on to play the second half for Hoffenheim.

Vitesse beat Feyenoord 1-0 at home to continue their excellent start to the Eredivise season. Mike Havenaar came on in the 81st minute and set up Wilfried Bony’s stoppage time winner with a shot/cross that Bony elegantly flicked into goal. Vitesse are now in second place with 1o points going into the international break.

Wigan Athletic drew 2-2 at home to Stoke. Ryo Miyaichi came on for Franco Di Santo for the last 10 minutes.

Keisuke Honda played the entire match as CSKA beat Krasnodar 1-0 away.

Yuto Nagatomo started and played the entire match as Inter were overrun by the attacking waves of Zdenek Zeman’s Roma, 3-1 at home.

Yuki Otsu has joined VVV Venlo on-loan from Monchengladbach. He will link up with Robert Cullen who was an unused substitute in their 1-0 loss at Twente.

Japanese Players In Europe

Shinji Kagawa celebrates his first goal for Manchester United with his teammates.

As the European leagues got underway this weekend, more and more Japanese players took to pitches for teams across the continent. Several players made debuts for their new teams, and notably, we had the third Japanese player to score in the English Premier League.

A week after impressing on his competitive debut for Manchester United, Shinji Kagawa became the third Japanese player to score in the English Premier League. In the 35th minute, Kagawa gave United a 2-1 lead in an eventual 3-2 win over Fulham. Playing as the No 10 behind Robin van Persie, Kagawa was again electric, at the heart of a mesmerizing 20 minute display in the first half from United that had Fulham on the ropes. His short passes and quick movement inspired the rest of the United attacking six to play at a dazzling pace that Fulham could hardly defend. There was a Dortmund-esque verve to their play. After a poor showing against Everton, Wayne Rooney was dropped, allowing Kagawa to play in his favored central position. He came on for Kagawa in the 68th but then suffered a terrible thigh gash and had to be carried off. He will be out for at least a month, which means Kagawa will likely continue playing as the No 10.

The goal itself was a tap-in, and that it wasn’t called off for offsides surprised everyone, including Kagawa. He follows Junichi Inamoto and Hidetoshi Nakata as Japanese goalscorers in the Premier League. Hopefully several others will follow him this season.

Hiroshi Kiyotake made his debut for FC Nurnberg, playing the entire 90 minutes in a 1-0 win over Hamburg.

Takashi Inui also made his debut for Eintracht Frankfurt, starting in a 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen. He was involved in Frankfurt’s equalizer, as his shot was only parried by Bernd Leno into the path of Stefan Aigner who finished well. Hajime Hosogai was an unused substitute for Leverkusen.

Takashi Usami came off the bench to make his debut for Hoffenheim in a 2-1 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach. He will look to break into the staring XI as the season progresses. Yuki Otsu was not included for Gladbach–more on a potential move away later.

Yuto Nagatomo played the entire 90 minutes as Inter beat newly-promoted Pescara 3-0. He also played the entire 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw with Romanian side FC Vaslui, which was enough for Inter to advance on. Similarly in Russia, Keisuke Honda played the entire 90 minutes in CSKA Moscow’s 3-0 win over Kryliya Sovetov. However, CSKA suffered major disappointment during the week, getting knocked out of the Europa League by Swedish side AIK.

In Holland, Maya Yoshida played the entire 90 minutes in a 4-2 loss to Ado Den Haag. More on him later. Robert Cullen came on in the 67th minute. For Vitesse, Michihiro Yasuda played the entire 90 minutes in a 2-0 win over Willem II. Mike Havenaar came on in the 54th minute.

In Europa League action, VFB Suttgart knocked out Dinamo Moscow 3-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw in Moscow. Gotoku Sakai and Shinji Okazaki both played the entire 90 minutes. Hannover 96 completed a 10-4 aggregate thumping of Slask Wroclaw with a 5-1 home win. Hiroki Sakai came on off the bench and set up the final goal with a delightful cross to Szabolcs Huszti.

Last but not least, English League Cup action. Tadanari Lee scored and played the entire 90 minutes in Southampton’s 4-1 win over Stevenage. It was a great way for him to mark his return from injury. Ryo Miyaichi came on for the last 10 minutes of Wigan’s 4-1 win over Nottingham Forest, which feature a couple great goals. Miyaichi got an assist for Wigan’s fourth, though Callum McManaman still had to beat a couple of players to score. An interesting stat from WhoScored.com: Miyaichi created a chance on average once every 32 minutes last season, 11th best in the Premier League.

Some transfer news: Maya Yoshida has completed a move to Southampton. He leaves one Japanese teammate (Robert Cullen) to join another (Tadanari Lee). The transfer fee was £2 million. Yoshida says that to play in the Premier League has been “one of my biggest dreams since I was a child.” Congrats to him on the move; that makes four Japanese players in the Premier League–let’s hope for more goals scored. Meanwhile, Yuki Otsu has been linked with a loan move to Celtic. It would be a good more for him; he’d play regularly and in the Champions League. Hiroshi Ibusuki has joined Belgian second division side KAS Eupen on loan from Sevilla.

Olympic Review

The Japanese men's Olympic football team performed well at London 2012.

The Japanese men finished in fourth place at the Olympics. This was a great finish, but one feels they underachieved at the end. After finishing first in their group and beating a dangerous Egypt side 3-0 in the quarterfinals, they seemed to flame out in the semifinals and the bronze medal match.

Japan 3-0 Egypt. Kensuke Nagai got things started in the 14th minute, using his increasingly impressive pace to get on the end of a great ball from Hiroshi Kiyotake. As the Egyptian keeper collided with his defender, Nagai slotted into an empty net. However, Nagai ran into defender Ahmed Hegazy on the play and was unable to continue after his goal. He was replaced by Manabu Saito, who dropped into the midfield. Otsu played a slightly forward role for the rest of the match. Japan’s cause was further aided in the 41st minute when defender Saad Samir was shown a straight red card for a last ditch foul of Saito. Egypt were excellent on the ball and were able to keep possession throughout, but with a man less opportunities to get on the ball were fewer. Japan made it 2-0 in the 78th minute, when Maya Yoshida headed in a free kick from Kiyotake. It was 3-0 in the 83rd when Otsu headed in a cross from Takahiro Ohgihara. Japan definitely benefited from the man advantage (two men towards the end when Egypt lost a man to injury and were out of substitutions) but played extremely well against a talented and dangerous team. Kiyotake was superb and controlled the match. Maya Yoshida was excellent as usual.

Mexico 3-1 Japan. Mexico played well and deservedly went through, but it was nonetheless disappointing to see, especially since Japan beat this same team five days before the Olympics. Otsu got things started and had me on my feet with a wonderful 20-yard volley in the 12th minute. Japan were playing well and looked to be in control. However, Mexico got back into the game and looked increasingly threatening. Gio Dos Santos in particular missed a golden chance to level the match. The pressure told in the 31st minute when Dos Santos’ corner was flicked on by Jorge Enriquez and nodded in by Marco Fabian. It was the first goal that Japan had conceded all tournament, and Gonda had no chance.  Mexico continued to play well into the second half, and Japan struggled to produce anything in midfield. Oribe Peralta made it 2-1 in the 65th minute with a well-placed shot that again left Gonda helpless. Ohgihara was dallying on the ball outside of the box and Peralta dispossessed him before launching his shot. Japan tried to press and find an equalizer but found it difficult to play out of the midfield against a Mexico side that liked to keep the ball wide. Fabian in particular caused Japan lots of problems. As Japan searched for an equalizer, Mexico scored a third on the counter. Javier Cortes took advantage of some poor defending and scored on a shot that Gonda should have definitely saved. Japan’s midfield picked the wrong day to have its worst match of the tournament, with Kiyotake and Higashi well below par.

South Korea 2-0 Japan. Outplayed and outmuscled in the consolation match against their Asian rivals. Korea were fired up for the match and pressured Japan from the start. Japan were able to start passing the ball well but were unsettled by some tough challenges from Korea. Park Chu-Young gave Korea the lead in the 38th minute after dancing his way around some terrible defending. The shot was a weak one and Gonda probably should have kept it out. It was 2-0 in the 57th minute when the excellent Koo Ja-Cheol was put through by Ji Dong-Won and shot under Gonda. Japan searched for a way back into the match, and thought they had one when Maya Yoshida put a superb header into goal. However it was correctly ruled out for a block on keeper Jung Sung-Ryong. Again, the midfield was below par and was unable to consistently threaten the Korean defense.

Watching the tournament, one thing that became clear to me was the huge gap between youth sides and the senior side. On pretty much every team in the tournament, the overage players stood out. Thiago Silva, Maynor Figueroa, Craig Bellamy, Nordin Amrabat all performed noticeably better than some of their younger teammates. This was the same with Maya Yoshida, who was comfortably the best player for Japan in the tournament. It shows how important experience at the highest level is for international football.

In addition to Yoshida, Kiyotake was superb throughout the tournament. Up until the semifinal, he controlled matches with his darting movement and varied passing. He set the tempo with short passes, but showed he was equally adept at longer ones, serving up assists with two such passes against Egypt. Hiroki Sakai was superb at rightback. He was excellent in defense and provided width and speed on attack. When he played, Gotoku Sakai was equally as good. I thought he probably should’ve started on the left. Yuki Otsu has the potential to be a great player, and should play more for Monchengladbach this season. He played well throughout the tournament and provided good movement in support of Nagai, who was also excellent bar some poor finishing against Spain. Ohgihara looked comfortable on the ball and provided excellent set piece delivery. Gonda has the potential to be a future No. 1.

It was a great tournament and I am really looking forward to watching these guys play in the future.

Congratulations to the women’s team who finished with a silver medal, losing 2-1 in the final to the US. The women outplayed the physically strong US team and could have gotten a better result had it not been for great saves by Hope Solo and some questionable calls by the referees. The result further cements Nadeshiko Japan as overall one of the best women’s teams, and surely the best in terms of playing beautiful football.

Japan 0-0 Honduras

Kazuya Yamamura battles with Luis Garrido of Honduas.

A 0-0 draw with Honduras was enough for the Japanese men to secure first place in Group D and a quarterfinal matchup with Egypt on Saturday. The result suited both teams, with Honduras finishing in second place and also progressing.

In the history of goalless draws, this will not go down as one of the more riveting ones. While both teams seemed somewhat interested in scoring, neither were able to get behind the defenses and create chances. The only moment when it looked like the deadlock might be broken was in the first half when Jerry Bengston got on the end of ball from midfield and got a shot through on goal, but Shuichi Gonda was able to get down sharply and then gobble up the rebound.

Honduras started the first half better, but Japan got better later on and were able to string some passes together. The second half was similar, with Honduras starting better and Japan gradually growing into it. By the end, most of the football was being played by Japan in and around the Honduras box.

Takashi Usami was one of the newcomers in the match and didn’t have much of a chance to shine. With neither team really interested in playing through the midfield, Usami’s contributions were mostly through moments of individual flair, which he had a couple, and set pieces. He seemed to hit his free kicks and corner kicks deep, and one set piece had the Honduran keeper Jose Mendoza struggling back to tip the ball over the bar.

The standout performer was Gotoku Sakai who played on the left after playing on the right against Spain and Morocco. He let absolutely nothing through and was excellent bringing the ball forward. He used his impressive speed to cut out passes and add width to attack when needed.

D.C. United youngster Andy Najar was the most dangerous player for Honduras. He showed some great speed and close control, and when he was substituted off in the 60th minute, the Honduran attack became noticeably less dangerous.

Shuichi Gonda made a couple excellent saves and was commanding in his box. He plucked out crosses pretty comfortably and had the confident look of an established senior level keeper. The defense as a unit still has yet to concede a goal in the tournament.

The midfield looked a lot better once Hiroshi Kiyotake came on in the 67th. Passes started to connect in the middle, giving more space to the wide players. Kensuke Nagai also improved the attack when he came on in the 81st.

Overall, a good result that achieves the goal of first place.