22 May 2006(Mon)

Tokyo, May 20, 2006 -- Zico's squad announcement must serve as a warning to Japanese players in the future -- that a move overseas is not necessarily a passport to success.

Players have to be careful over their choice of country and club when the opportunity comes along, as it could affect their careers.

For various reasons, Daisuke Matsui, Yoshito Okubo and Takayuki Suzuki all missed out on Japan's 23 for Germany, and you can't help feeling their chances would have been better had they remained in Japan so that Zico could have actually seen them play on a regular basis.

I am not, for a minute, saying they were wrong to move overseas, just that they can disappear from view quite quickly.

Chatting with several Japanese sports writers in the build-up to the squad announcement, another former J.League favourite now in Europe often came up in conversation.

Would Zico call up Koji Nakata, or leave him out after his miserable time at Marseille and his attempt to get his career back on track at Basle?

Thankfully, Zico selected him -- and now I hope he tries to integrate him into the starting line-up.

Despite claims that Zico has a special bond with his "Kashima children", this cannot be said of Koji.

In fact I think Koji has been under-valued and under-utilised by Zico throughout his reign, and that he has much more to offer the national team.

No matter what formation Zico picks, 4-4-2 or 3-5-2, he will need two central midfield players to hold the team together.

One of them, preferably both, must be a naturally defensive player, and Fukunishi is the favourite for that role at the moment. But Koji could do the job just as well, if not better.

He always controlled the Kashima team in the middle of the park, and has the experience and the football brain to do the same for Japan.

With Koji staying deep, and having the tactical discipline not to rush forward unexpectedly, the midfield retains its balance and the team retains its shape -- and that can't always be said of Zico's tactics.

Zico could even play Koji and Fukunishi together, building a tall and resilient wall in the centre of the pitch, but it's unlikely he will do so due to the abundance of more creative, attacking players he clearly prefers.

The inclusion of Koji, though, gives Zico many midfield options, and, of course, the former Antlers favourite could also fill in for Alex at left back in a four-man defence...when Alex is suspended for two yellow cards: one for diving, the other for a silly foul!

No one knows exactly what condition Koji is in, but he has three weeks of training sessions and two matches to state his case.

I still feel he can be a major influence on the team in Germany.

ends