13 Oct 2008(Mon)

October 11, 2008: Despite a goal from Kagawa and an energetic showing from Koroki, the happiest people after the Japan-UAE match must surely have been Uzbekistan.

There has been a lot of talk about Japan's Young Guns and how they changed the match, but frankly I couldn't find anything positive to come out of the 1-1 draw at Niigata.

I thought it was awful, at times embarrassing, and the worst Japan performance since the goalless draw with South Korea in the 2007 Asian Cup third-place playoff; a match Japan would lose on penalties (if anyone was still watching by then).

It was the kind of game which probably left the JFA wondering why they had organised a friendly in the first place, as it caused more damage to confidence than it did to pointing the way forward for the big test against the Uzbeks on Wednesday.

Japan's finishing was comical, even by their own low standards, especially from Okubo. When Tamada set him up with his low cross from the right early in the second half, Okubo looked certain to score, but put the chance over the bar. I have long supported Okubo, and defended his poor ratio of goals to games because many of those appearances were as a late substitute, but what can you say about that?

It took Japan 72 minutes to open the scoring, thanks to the industry of Uchida after his Antlers teammate, Koroki, had hit the post with a header. Uchida retrieved the loose ball, kept his composure and picked out the unmarked Kagawa at the far post. Easy. 1-0.

Kagawa couldn't miss, could he? Well, actually he could, and did so later with a header when it seemed easier to score. I don't care how old Kagawa is, or how young at 19, at this level he should be burying chances like that.

It also worried me how quickly the Emirates equalised after going behind -- just five minutes.

I am sure they would have settled for 0-0 before the kick-off, and didn't look too interested in attacking as they maintained a pedestrian pace.

But when they stepped it up briefly, they scored through Ismail Alhammadi. Hasebe should never have been beaten on the far touchline, and a deflection sent Ismail's shot between two defenders on the edge of the box and beyond Narazaki. Was anyone surprised?

I was also disappointed with some of Hasebe's casual passing, especially when he rolled the ball out to the right wing, only to see it intercepted. Okada could not believe his eyes.

This was a very poor showing by Japan, and they need to improve dramatically to beat Uzbekistan in the World Cup qualifier at Saitama.

ends