11 Aug 2008(Mon)

Beijing, August 8, 2008: It has been a depressing few days here in China.

First the 2-2 draw by the women's team against New Zealand in Qinhuangdao, and then the 1-0 defeat for the men's team against the United States in Tianjin.

Actually, the 2-2 draw felt like a defeat, even though Japan came back from 2-0 down; another five minutes and I'm sure Japan would have won, but it was the Kiwis who celebrated after the final whistle with what appeared to be a toned-down “haka” in front of their fans.

I have been very disappointed with Japan in both games. They have let themselves down by not being able to do the basics, such as control the ball and pass the ball, and they have missed far too many chances in front of goal. This last fault is no surprise, though,  with New Zealand women's team coach John Herdman saying he knew that Japan would need 10 chances to score three times. Cruel, but true.

For the men, make that 10 chances for one goal, as they lost to a United States team that was not particularly strong. I thought this was their best chance to win a game, and now they must play Nigeria and the Netherlands with their backs to the wall. I hope they can hang on, and not collapse, but I am not optimistic.

Chatting with some Japanese press after the USA defeat, some thought Japan deserved a draw and were the better team for long periods.

I cannot agree at all. Uchida, the right back, is their most dangerous player, but the Americans closed him out in the second half after the Antlers youngster had caused trouble down the right flank with his runs and crosses in the first half.

I also don't know why coach Sorimachi did not select Lee in the starting line-up. He has consistently been Japan's liveliest and brightest forward, yet the coach preferred the out-of-sorts Morimoto.

As the second half wore on, on came Toyoda – a surprise selection in the 18 – but he looked out of his depth at this level. Although Toyoda felt hard done by when not receiving a penalty after a tussle with Maurice Edu, Japan cannot complain too much as they had started throwing themselves around all over the place by then anyway. Not a good advert for the Japanese game.

Freddy Adu thought he should have had a penalty, too, after a challenge by Nagatomo, but again I thought the ref was right in waving play on.

In the end, Japan fell to a goal they had been trying to score themselves, with the source the right back Marvell Wynne, a hard, low cross, and a fine strike by Stuart Holden from Mizumoto's interception. Nishikawa should have saved it, but the ball trickled over the line.

I can't  help thinking what would have happened if the situation had been reversed, and Uchida's cross had been half-cleared into the path of a supporting midfield player. Would the Japanese player have hit the ball first time, or trapped it, taken one touch too much, and been closed down, never even testing the keeper?

Depressing times indeed.

ends