Honda scoring run boosts Japan’s WC build-up

March 18, 2010

Japan and CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda’s goal-scoring run in European football has given a big boost to the Blue Samurai’s World Cup build-up after a recent crisis.

Japanese sports dailies were full of praise Thursday for Moscow’s new signing after he set up a goal and scored the winner in a 2-1 away victory over Sevilla that sent the Russian side to the Champions League quarter-finals.

Japan Football Association president Motoaki Inukai watched the game on television with executives of football governing body FIFA in Zurich.

“When I told them I was surprised, some of the executives said the Europeans already knew Honda could play that well,” Inukai told reporters.

“Honda’s left foot has proven that he is Japan’s new ace and it is packed with endless possibilities,” the Sports Nippon commented.

The Nikkan Sports said Japan had “acquired a ‘missile’ that is comparable to Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo” while coach Takeshi Okada ambitiously insisted on aiming for a World Cup semi-final spot in South Africa.

Honda had been seen as a substitute for playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura who returned to his old J-League side Yokohama Marinos last month after struggling at Espanyol.

The 23-year-old Honda moved to Moscow in January after helping VVV Venlo return to the top of the Dutch league in the last season and scored in a 1-0 win over Amkar Perm on the opening day of the Russian season on Sunday.

Then on Tuesday, he set up Tomas Necid to score in the first-half and beat Sevilla goalkeeper Andres Palop with a 30-metre free kick on 55 minutes.

“It is like a fairytale,” Dutch football great Ruud Gullit was quoted by Japanese media as saying of Honda’s meteoric rise.

“He has made a great impact.”

Honda, who moved to Venlo in January 2008 after four seasons with J-League side Nagoya Grampus, has become the first Japanese to reach the Champions League quarter-finals under the league’s current format was set in 1992.

“I am not interested in a first for the Japanese. I am aiming higher still,” Honda told Japanese media.

“A win over Sevilla is not an end. There are still others up there. I will aim for the top of the world and that makes football interesting to me.”

Honda’s European success is a boon to Japan after they finished third in the East Asian championships last month, which highlighted their perennial lack of firepower and put Okada’s job at riske.

Fighting without their Europe-based players, Japan drew 0-0 with underdogs China and crashed 3-1 to arch-rivals South Korea.

But Honda set up a goal and scored a header in a 2-0 win over Bahrain this month in Japan’s last qualifier for the 2011 Asian Cup to help save Okada’s neck.

TOKYO (AFP)

Tags: Andres Palop, bahrain, blue samurai, body fifa, CSKA, cska moscow, dutch football, dutch league, East Asian, endless possibilities, inukai, j league, japan football association, japanese media, japanese sports, meteoric rise, Moscow, Nagoya, nagoya grampus, nikkan sports, ruud gullit, SEVILLA, shunsuke nakamura, South Africa, south korea, sports nippon, Takeshi Okada, tokyo, YOKOHAMA, ZURICH

Japan pick ‘lucky town’ as World Cup base camp

November 16, 2009

Japan’s national football team has picked a happy hunting ground as its base camp for next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa, press reports said on Monday.

They will be lodged at a plush golf resort in George where Japan’s Ai Miyazato and Rui Kitada won the inaugural women’s World Cup of Golf in 2005.

“George is a lucky town for Japan,” Japan Football Association president Motoaki Inukai told Japanese media on Sunday as he toured the Fancourt hotel and country club in the city by the Indian Ocean.

“We will need luck as the football World Cup will be a tough campaign,” he added. “It is beautiful with greenery and our players can focus on their battles.”

The 613-hectare hotel resort, surrounded by an electric fence, has three golf courses designed by Gary Player, 150 luxury rooms, a conference centre, a spa, and a variety of restaurants including a sushi shop, the reports said.

The Blue Samurai will be accompanied by chefs from home and they will train on a rugby ground to be replenished with turf after the rugby season.

TOKYO (AFP)

Tags: africa press, ai miyazato, blue samurai, electric fence, fancourt hotel and country club, football world cup, gary player, happy hunting ground, inaugural women, inukai, japan football association, japan japan, japanese media, lucky town, luxury rooms, national football team, rugby season, rui kitada, sushi shop, world cup finals

Japan target big guns in World Cup build-up

June 8, 2009

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan are eyeing clashes against the giants of world football to help them gear up for an assault on next year’s World Cup, where they have targeted a semi-final berth.

The Asian side qualified for the showpiece event at the weekend and, turning his sights towards the South African tournament, coach Takeshi Okada said the ideal preparation would be to play the cream of world football.

“We want to play teams that are as strong as possible… even if we’re torn to pieces,” he said on the Blue Samurai’s return from Tashkent where they beat Uzbekistan 1-0 to book their fourth straight ticket to the World Cup finals.

“We want to play three or four (friendly) matches against top-class teams in Europe and South America,” he told a news conference Sunday.

Japan Football Association president Motoaki Inukai told the Sports Nippon daily that Japan would travel to Europe in September to play the Netherlands, currently ranked second in the world behind Spain.

“It will be great if we can play Spain,” Inukai told the Nikkan Sports daily, adding that Japan also wanted to challenge top teams such as England, Germany, France, Brazil and Argentina.

With two rounds left to play, Japan and Australia have qualified for the 2010 World Cup from Asian Group A. South Korea also went through from Group B.

Okada is aiming for a semi-final place, which would match South Korea’s achievement at the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by the Asian neighbours.

But it is considered ambitious as the country’s best World Cup finish was the last-16 round at home.

But Japan and Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura told the press conference “the goal should basically be set high.”

“I want to play Spain because they are at the top,” said Japanese midfielder Yasuhito Endo.

“If we fight strong teams, we see what problems we have. It is good to have firsthand knowledge of strong players,” said the 29-year-old, who helped power J-League outfit Gamba Osaka to the AFC Champions League title last year.