7 Aug 2006(Mon)

August 5, 2006 -- Well, there are only 13 of them, but it's an exciting start for "Uncle" Osim's Japan.

Five players with no caps, some outstanding young talent returning, and six of the 13 from Urawa...I wonder if Japan are going to start playing in red, rather than blue, and then we can have the Red Samurai and Red Fever!

This is the fresh start Japan needed after the poor showing in Germany, and Osim has wasted no time in his rebuilding process. He has been in Japan long enough to know a good player when he sees one, and to know one who best represents the strong characteristics of the Japanese player.

Personally, I am delighted to see Tulio in the squad. Raw and rough, Tulio will bring an intensity and commitment to the back line, and possibly also to the forward line when he charges forward. I still find it hard to believe that Zico never gave him a chance, knowing last December the physical threat posed by Australia and Croatia.

Tulio would have loved those aerial scraps against the Aussies. You could have imagined him, couldn't you, standing on the edge of his own box, inviting the Aussie defenders to launch a few more long balls into the middle and then challenging them with a cry of "Is that the best you got?"

Delighted, too, to see Konno back in there after Zico looked at him all too briefly. Zico's under-use and under-development of Konno bordered on the criminal, one of the worst mistakes he made in his bungling reign.

It has been obvious for several seasons that Konno has bags of potential, but Zico was allowed to discard him and waste two years of the young player's international career.

Daigo Kobayashi has been in sparkling form for Omiya but knows he must increase his running under Osim, and his selection puts a big question mark against the future of Shunsuke Nakamura.

Hayuma Tanaka has lots of experience on the right side, either in a four-man defence or five-man midfield, and will put Kaji under pressure for that position, but I still feel Osim rates Kaji highly and is the No. 1 choice. A few years ago, when Hayuma was at Verdy, the coach at the time, Lori Sandri, said the player would eventually become Japan's right back, and his prediction is coming true.

Hasebe, of course, oozes class, while Ganaha is rewarded for leading the Frontale front line and the team to the top of the table. With Maki on A3 duty, Osim needed some height and Ganaha gives him that, and will probably give him some goals, too.

All in all, then, a bright and imaginative start by Osim, who clearly felt he needed to change the mood of the team after Germany as the squad had gone stale under Zico.

ends