14 Mar 2005(Mon)

TOKYO (March 12): Thanks to Japan's excellent train system, and the growing football culture here, I was able to watch three Champions League matches from two continents on Wednesday night.

The first was at Mitsuzawa Stadium, between Yokohama F Marinos and Shandong Luneng Taishan, in Group F of the AFC Champions League.

After the obligatory post-match hanging around, which all the media must do, followed by a brisk walk down Mitsuzawa Hill into town, we arrived at the English pub near Yokohama Station in time for the second half of the Milan-Manchester United game on the big screen.

Then it was time for the last train to Omiya, arriving home for the start of the Chelsea-Barcelona classic on Fuji TV.

Yes, it was an enjoyable evening...apart from the first match, of course.

Takeshi Okada is desperate to do well in the AFC Champions League this season. After winning the J.League championship in 2003 and 2004, he feels the club should step up to a higher level and challenge for the continental crown.

But their quest for the title began in depressing style with a 1-0 defeat to a Chinese team who strangled the life out of the game.

Okada needed a goal to settle his team, but Kubo, Ahn and Sakata were all injured, and the new Brazilian Adhemar was on the bench, far from fully fit.

Oshima looks like a good player, but he will need time to adjust to the faster pace after moving from Yamagata in J2, while Shimizu is quick and dangerous but not a prolific scorer.

Still, Marinos had enough chances to get something out of the game, and they now face two away games in a row.

I couldn't help feeling sympathy towards Okada and his team, and the Marinos fans, at the appalling gamesmanship displayed by the Chinese in the second half.

Players going down with cramp to hold up the game, members of the bench throwing an extra ball on to the pitch to produce further delays, and the goalkeeper deliberately kicking the ball away and asking for another from the ball boy...

It really was a poor show, and it was amusing to see one Marinos fan hurl abuse at the Shandong squad after the final whistle from just behind their bench.

He must have been suffering from a cold or a bug, because he removed his mask to shout at the Chinese players and Serbian coaching staff.

Good for him! They deserved it.

Later, Okada looked a very concerned man as he left the press conference room.

His hopes of a place in the FIFA Club World Championship in Japan in December look a long way away at the moment.

ends