mission.japan

Katsu shika nai

Monday, June 19, 2006

If you’ve been following the World Cup you might have seen that Japan isn’t doing so hot this time around. (Although neither is the U.S., for that matter.)

All the soccer passion in the world (and Japan definitely has a healthy percentage of it) won’t by itself win you a tournament. Japan has a solid team with a devoted following, but to the disappointment of many their chances of making it through the first round have become despairingly slim.

At this point it’s katsu shika nai—winning is all that matters. After getting tired in the last ten minutes of game 1 and letting Australia come from behind to win, then eking out a scoreless tie in an exhausting match against Croatia yesterday, Japan does not hold its destiny in its hands. Even a win in game 3 against Brazil (“miraculous” comes close to describing that scenario) might not get them into the final 16. But still it’s katsu shika nai. Anything less than a win is not acceptable.

From my perspective Japan fields a good team. But there’s something that keeps them from being a great team. I don’t think it’s from lack of individual skills or personal effort, because they are solid in both those areas. I suspect it’s from a lack of creativity. Soccer is not a game of set plays that can be analyzed and categorized like baseball—it’s a fluid, ever-changing environment of attack and defense, charge and retreat. The great teams, I think, can break outside of practiced scenarios and come up with new methods on the pitch. I don’t really see this too much from Japan, although maybe someone else has a different opinion. (Let me know what you think with the comment form at the end of this entry!)

To a great extent the people here have recognized that Japan might not survive (a realization that probably began after the loss to Australia), but I think a good percent of the soccer fan segment will get up at 4:00 in the morning to watch the match against Brazil this week. I don’t really see a poor performance in the World Cup hurting Japan’s newfound love for soccer, either. There’s 2010 to look forward to, after all.

Comments

David Schaab wrote on June 21:

Of course I’ll comment to anything soccer! I wouldn’t downplay Japan against Brazil – Brazil really hasn’t shown much and with them already qualified – well, let’s see. The Japanese players remind me of the US – we are here this year but fail to create. Their movements are somewhat predictable. The reason the US could fight Italy was that they did things differently to include shaking up personnel. Bruce Arena literally attacking marquis playes really was a surprise. The loss to Australia was devastating – 3 goals in the last 10 minutes. That they came back to tie Croatia was a testament to the standard form they employed but still missing a spark. Against Brazil – if they don’t tire, then another 0-0 tie is likely – Brazil, however, brings the South American flavor and nowhere is there more imaginative play than in South America. FYI: I still favor England and Germany this year even if England has played some boring soccer. Germany is the surprise. Argentina is the class of South America but I am not certain they possess the physical needs to match up against a European team.