Archive for the ‘Japan’ Category
Ryo Miyaichi back in training and with a new haircut
Japanese Golazo VVV 54′ Doelpunt Maya Yoshida, VVV-Venlo – PSV, 3-2 – YouTube
54′ Doelpunt Maya Yoshida, VVV-Venlo – PSV, 3-2 – YouTube:
An emphatic golazo.
Keisuke Honda – genius and peacemaker: YouTube – Матч ЦСКА-Анжи остановлен из-за драки
YouTube – Матч ЦСКА-Анжи остановлен из-за драки
There were angry scenes following CSKA Moscow’s 3 – 0 win at Anzhi Makhachkala. Players from both sides had to remonstrate with supporters who were throwing seats and other debris onto the pitch. The situation could have escalated but the actions of the players seemed to calm matters.
Keisuke Honda, who had scored a brilliant goal in the game, was one of the principle peacemakers. The Japanese forward has revealed that he is far from happy in Russia likening his current situation to being at the bottom of a valley. His dream is to play for Real Madrid but recent transfer speculation has linked him heavily with Manchester City.
Honda was arguably the player of the 2010 World Cup, hardly misplacing a pass in Japan’s four matches. Arsene Wenger, at the time, described him as a “genius.” Arsenal and Honda would suit each other stylistically but Wenger appears reluctant to pursue a transfer. While Honda was relatively unknown in Europe before 2010 it is likely that he has been on Wenger’s radar for some time. Wenger joined Arsenal from Honda’s former club in Japan Nagoya Grampus. Surely a move to Arsenal, if it was ever likely, would have happened already when Honda was younger and cheaper.
(Fuller highlights)
King Kaz – The Pioneer
Japanese kid voted MVP at a youth tournament for FC Barcelona FCバルセロナキャンプ2009とU-9国際大会MVPを獲った8歳の日本人少年
This kid is called Takefusa Kubo. He has been playing for FC Barcelona but is now back in Japan.
To The City
The sign on the front gate gives you a detailed warning but the picture in its midst tells you all you really need to know. A crossed out hunting knife with red dripping from the blade leaves little to the imagination. My new school is not violent. But by the standards of my last place of work here in Japan it is like I have crossed the tracks and entered the badlands.
It is now some six weeks since I left the Tango peninsula at the northernmost tip of Kyoto prefecture – a green and pleasant land famous for its silk, serenity and scenic views. I had been seduced by two years of small town life. Knowing everyone and everywhere although pleasant was also numbing, I had begun to feel lethargic. If familiarity breads contempt then I left at just the right time.
I will remain intoxicated with the charms of the Japanese countryside but at my heart I am a child of the city. It feels good to be back amongst the bustle and grime. Osaka is a city of some 8 million people. Renowned by the rest of Japan for the warmth and brusque inhibition of its residents Osaka is often compared to Liverpool or Manchester in England. Like all big port cities there is a hardness to the people but also an intoxicating sincerity and readiness to relax.
In many ways it reminds me of my hometown. Not the international moneyed mega-city London, but the more weather worn, down at heel, ‘south-of-the-river’ city of a thousand stories. Osakan’s are not afraid to laugh, at themselves or with strangers.
I now live in Abeno, which is part of Tennoji, in the South of the City. A once notorious entertainment district tainted with the proletarian allure of gambling, prostitution, high times and organized crime. While the party has long since moved on and the area has the general feel of one that has seen better times, not abetted by its status as the home of Japan’s homeless community, it still has character.
At night the neon glows above red lit passions. From my house I roll down the hill. Passing through the prostituted lanes, checking my reflection in the blacked out window of the Yakuza’s car, under the covered markets and down the fish smelling shopping arcades. A sign reads ‘Welcome’ in four languages – people and their stories filtering underneath. This is where I call home now.
Japan Takes Air Guitar World Title
Competitors from four continents took part in the contest which has been held anually at the Teatria Club in Oulu, Finland for the past 11 years.
France’s Guillaume ‘Moche Pitt’ de Tonquedec finished second, while Max ‘Herr Jaquelin’ Heller of Austria, was third.
The prize for the 2007 competiton was a Flying Finn guitar.
See the champ in action here:
Japan Takes Air Guitar World Title
Competitors from four continents took part in the contest which has been held anually at the Teatria Club in Oulu, Finland for the past 11 years.
France’s Guillaume ‘Moche Pitt’ de Tonquedec finished second, while Max ‘Herr Jaquelin’ Heller of Austria, was third.
The prize for the 2007 competiton was a Flying Finn guitar.
See the champ in action here:
Japan 1 Qatar 1
Monday July 9th 2007, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Japan drew with Qatar in their opening match of the 2007 Asian Championships in Thailand on Monday. In a stuttering display Japan played with a nervousness that has come to characterize them recently. While they passed the ball efficiently decisive moments of consequence were lacking. They were too polite. Furious coach Ivica Osim was anything but, branding his team “a bunch of amateurs,” for conceding a late equalizer in a game they had lead since the 61st minute. Reducing his interpreter to tears in the process.
Qatar defended resolutely and ruggedly but posed little threat to the Japanese defence until their goal in injury time. The naturalized Uruguayan Sebastian Quintana smacked a free kick through a porous wall and killed Japanese hopes of victory.
Eintracht Frankfurt striker Takahara Naohiro gave Japan the lead with a goal of impish spontaneity. Pivoting on his right leg, spinning away from goal on the edge of the six yard box, Takahara used the inside of his left foot to divert Konno Yasuyuki’s cross past Qatar keeper Saqr.
The goal did little to settle the Japanese. Midfielders Endo and Nakamura Shunsuke worked tirelessly to up the tempo but while they dominated possession Japan never looked comfortable. With Takahara operating in solitary confinement at the top of a 4-5-1 looked both overwhelmed by expectation and dumbfounded by a stubborn rival. Qatar, through hard work and persistence, were able to harass and distract their opponents, who have won the last two Asian Championships.
Nakamura Shunsuke fired inches wide from a free kick and provided several other dangerous set pieces but his teammates seemed all too happy to pass on responsibility. Takahara should have killed the game in the 80th minute but tamely side footed over with the goal at his mercy. It was characteristic of a fumbling performance from the defending champions. Japan, and fuming coach Osim, will hope for an improved display against the U.A.E. on Friday.
Japan: Kawaguchi Yoshikatsu (Jubilo Iwata); Kaji Akira (Gamba Osaka), Nakazawa Yuji (Yokohama F –Marinos), Abe Yuki (Urawa Reds), Endo Ysuhito (Gamba Osaka), Konno Yasuyuki (FC Tokyo), Nakamura Shunsuke (Celtic), Nakamura Kengo (Kawasaki Frontale), Suzuki Keita (Urawa Reds), Yamagashi Satoru (JEF United), Takahara (Eintracht Frankfurt).
Qatar: Saqr; Abdulla, Sattam Shmmari, Koni, Al-Bloushi, Al-Hammad, Mubarak, Rizik, Quintana, Yasser.
Attendance: 6,000.
My man of the match: Endo or Shunsuke – the only beacons of quality in a fog of confused mediocrity.
Japan 1 Qatar 1
Monday July 9th 2007, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Japan drew with Qatar in their opening match of the 2007 Asian Championships in Thailand on Monday. In a stuttering display Japan played with a nervousness that has come to characterize them recently. While they passed the ball efficiently decisive moments of consequence were lacking. They were too polite. Furious coach Ivica Osim was anything but, branding his team “a bunch of amateurs,” for conceding a late equalizer in a game they had lead since the 61st minute. Reducing his interpreter to tears in the process.
Qatar defended resolutely and ruggedly but posed little threat to the Japanese defence until their goal in injury time. The naturalized Uruguayan Sebastian Quintana smacked a free kick through a porous wall and killed Japanese hopes of victory.
Eintracht Frankfurt striker Takahara Naohiro gave Japan the lead with a goal of impish spontaneity. Pivoting on his right leg, spinning away from goal on the edge of the six yard box, Takahara used the inside of his left foot to divert Konno Yasuyuki’s cross past Qatar keeper Saqr.
The goal did little to settle the Japanese. Midfielders Endo and Nakamura Shunsuke worked tirelessly to up the tempo but while they dominated possession Japan never looked comfortable. With Takahara operating in solitary confinement at the top of a 4-5-1 looked both overwhelmed by expectation and dumbfounded by a stubborn rival. Qatar, through hard work and persistence, were able to harass and distract their opponents, who have won the last two Asian Championships.
Nakamura Shunsuke fired inches wide from a free kick and provided several other dangerous set pieces but his teammates seemed all too happy to pass on responsibility. Takahara should have killed the game in the 80th minute but tamely side footed over with the goal at his mercy. It was characteristic of a fumbling performance from the defending champions. Japan, and fuming coach Osim, will hope for an improved display against the U.A.E. on Friday.
Japan: Kawaguchi Yoshikatsu (Jubilo Iwata); Kaji Akira (Gamba Osaka), Nakazawa Yuji (Yokohama F –Marinos), Abe Yuki (Urawa Reds), Endo Ysuhito (Gamba Osaka), Konno Yasuyuki (FC Tokyo), Nakamura Shunsuke (Celtic), Nakamura Kengo (Kawasaki Frontale), Suzuki Keita (Urawa Reds), Yamagashi Satoru (JEF United), Takahara (Eintracht Frankfurt).
Qatar: Saqr; Abdulla, Sattam Shmmari, Koni, Al-Bloushi, Al-Hammad, Mubarak, Rizik, Quintana, Yasser.
Attendance: 6,000.
My man of the match: Endo or Shunsuke – the only beacons of quality in a fog of confused mediocrity.
