11 Jun 2009(Thu)

June 8, 2009: Semi-finals in South Africa?

For the moment I'm not even thinking about that (and I wish Takeshi Okada would stop talking about it), especially as we don't even know the formation of the groups; and will not do so for six more months.

No, I am thinking about the first time Okada was in charge, when he pulled off his salvage job in the autumn of 1997.

Remember the crowd trouble at Kokuritsu after the 1-1 draw with UAE?

The fans were going crazy, throwing chairs and other debris outside the main gates of the National Stadium when it looked like Japan might miss out on a place in France 98 and have the dubious distinction of co-hosting 2002 without having played in a previous World Cup.

How embarrassing would that have been, and how much damage would it have caused to the game in general in Japan?

Then came the unexpected win in Seoul, the thrashing of Kazakhstan at home and, of course, the magical night in Johor Bahru when a Hidetoshi Nakata-inspired Japan beat Iran 3-2 in the play-off to book their place after all.

Now, in Okada's second stint in charge, Japan have qualified with two games to spare; and this is enough to celebrate for the time being without any talk of semi-finals.

It proves how much Japan have improved in Asia, thanks mainly to the strength of the J.League; a fact all opposing coaches highlight in the aftermath of defeat.

I was chatting with Frode Johnsen the other day at Kashiwa Stadium, after his S-Pulse team had beaten Reysol in a Nabisco Cup group game, and he said S-Pulse had so many good players they could field two teams strong enough to play in J1.

This strength in depth at club level is providing a constant flow of players to the national team, and Okada has been able to build on this and infuse the talent from Europe to add more experience and toughen them up mentally and physically.

Qualification this time has been a breeze, admittedly helped by the weaker of the two groups and the absence of South Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia in particular.

In 1997, Japan's opponents in their final qualifying group were South Korea, UAE, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, and only the top team advanced directly to France. Japan finished second so had to face Iran, whereas now Asia has the luxury of four automatic qualifiers plus half a place for the play-off with Oceania. And while qualification may appear easier now than in 1997, don't forget there was no Australia in the AFC in those days. That's a huge difference -- and why many in West Asia would love nothing more than to see the Aussies kicked back into Oceania.

Japan's prospects in South Africa can wait, but the fact they have qualified with two games to spare and have a year to prepare should not be under-estimated. How Saudi Arabia or Iran, two Asian super powers, would love to swap places with them!

ends