3 Jul 2003(Thu)

I must admit I feel a little confused about Japan's overall performance at the Confederations Cup, now I am back in Tokyo after two weeks in France.

Even after Japan went home early following their 1-0 defeat by Colombia, I heard nothing but positive comments from neutral observers.

"Japan deserved to be in the semifinals," was one comment.

"Japan were so unlucky," was another.

"Japan were one of the best teams here," said someone else.

At his major news conference in Paris on Saturday, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said we had seen "wonderful" football , and that he had been particularly impressed with Turkey and Japan for their ability and "innovative" contribution.

The following day I attended the final at the Stade de France. All the media had to vote for their Player of the Tournament, and a colleague from England voted for Shunsuke Nakamura.

"Even though he played only one and a half games?" I asked.

"Yes, but his free kick against France was out of this world," came the reply.

Yes, granted, it was a marvellous free kick from Shunsuke, struck with power and accuracy and which flew past Fabien Barthez. In all honesty, I had expected Yasuhito Endo to take the free kick, because the angle seemed more suited to a right-footed player, as opposed to the left foot of Nakamura.

Perhaps this free kick characterized Japan's football under Zico, because it was all about individual quality.

Going back to the voting, I chose Thierry Henry as my Player of the Tournament, followed by Turkey's Selcuk Sahin, who wore the No. 20 jersey and played in defensive midfield. I thought he showed great maturity and composure for a 22-year-old, and has a long international career ahead of him.

In third place I chose Hidetoshi Nakata. Some people may think I am being biased, but Nakata remains the driving force of the Japan team.

On an individual basis, which the MVP award is all about, I thought Nakata was all class and quality.

The sad thing is, Japan as a whole cannot come close to matching the individual talent of its captain, Nakata, no matter how hard he tries to inspire and lead his less experienced teammates.

Now I am back in Japan and have seen the reaction at home to the Confederations Cup results, which has been much more realistic and pragmatic than the observations in France, I feel that Zico still has everything to prove as national coach.

Home games against Nigeria in August, Senegal in September and Cameroon in November could hold the key to Zico's future.

France was a failure, not a success.

ends