GK
Shusaku Nishikawa - Oita Trinita (J1)
Kaito Yamamoto - Shimizu S-Pulse (J1)
DF
Hiroki Mizumoto - Kyoto Sanga F.C. (J1)
Masato Morishige - Oita Trinita (J1)
Yuto Nagatomo - FC Tokyo (J1)
Michihiro Yasuda - Gamba Osaka (J1)
Atsuto Uchida - Kashima Antlers (J1)
Maya Yoshida - Nagoya Grampus (J1)
MF
Takuya Honda - Shimizu S-Pulse (J1)
Hiroyuki Taniguchi - Kawasaki Frontale (J1)
Yohei Kajiyama - FC Tokyo (J1)
Keisuke Honda - VVV Venlo (Netherlands)
Hajime Hosogai - Urawa Reds (J1)
Shinji Kagawa - Cerezo Osaka (J2)
FW
Yohei Toyoda - Montedio Yamagata (J2)
Tadanari Lee - Kashiwa Reysol (J1)
Takayuki Morimoto - Catania (Italy)
Shinji Okazaki - Shimizu S-Pulse (J1)
Japan has surprisingly enough opted not to bring any over-aged player to the tournament, and coach Sorimachi have instead showed big faith in his young-guns. However, Gamba’s Yasuhito Endo were included in the 20-man roster, but he’s out with because of a serious illness that kept him sidelined for almost half a season last year as well. Instead of Endo, Sorimachi took out Cerezo’s wonderkid Shinji Kagawa, who’s only 19 years old and probably one of the youngest players in the tournament. But Kagawa have already gotten several matches for the NT, and even started important WC-qualifying matches. Vissel Kobe’s star striker Yoshito Okubo were asked to join, but Vissel refused to let him go.
There’s a few changes since Toulon, where Japan impressed alot with wins over traditional big and strong teams. Most of them are in midfield, with Aoyama and Inoha in particular as surprising absents. But the core of the team are intact, and that might be a good thing as the teams have been playing together for years, and therefore knows eachother very well. If Japan has opted to go for 3 over-aged stars, those 3 would have to adapt to new team, which in the end might not would have turned out to be a positive thing.
Urawa’s Tsukasa Umesaki and Celtic’s Koki Mizuno were expected to make the team, but the 2 player’s clubs pledged Sorimachi and Japan to not choose them. As a result, Japan are almost without offensive midfielders, with only Shinji Kagawa as a real offensive contributor. Both Kajiyama and Keisuke Honda can work in offence though, but they’re not naturally players to adapt to that role.
Japan’s defence looks extremely strong, and are well-covered in all posititons. GK Nishikawa has been one of the best keepers in the J.League this season for Oita, and Uchida / Yasuda on the wingbacks are already established starters for 2 of the best teams in Japan, and also got a number of NT-matches under their belts. In central-defence, Nagatomo,Morishige and Mizumoto are all top-class, regular J1 starters.
As earlier mentioned, Japan lacks some offensive contributors in midfield, and it might look like Kagawa will be getting a key-role here. Kagawa have never played with this team before though, as he has usually been a member of the U-20 squad ( or lately the senior squad). But also in midfield are there players who are key-members at their clubs, and by no means does it look poor.
In attack, Sorimachi surprisingly went for J2 striker Yohei Toyoda instead of the likes of Jubilo’s Robert Cullen or Kashima’s Shinzo Koroki. Toyoda has been pretty good though for Montedio the last 2 seasons, but were injured for a long time before recently returning a few weeks back. Cullen would have been the natural choice, as the young striker has been a regular at Jubilo for years. Toyoda are not likely to start though, and Reysol’s star player Tadanari Lee and Catania’s Takayuki Morimoto looks set to be the starting strikers. Many people expect wonders from especially Lee, who is regarded as Japan’s biggest FW talent. Morimoto plays in Serie A, where he usually only gets chances as a substitute. But he’s scored a few goals there already, and are a talented player. But compared to many of the other big teams in the Olympics, Japan’s FW line might not look too intimidating.
No comments:
Post a Comment