Japanese Lovers

Jepang menunjukan kapasitasnya sebagai tim kuat di kualifikasi Grup E Piala Asia U-2012. Tak tanggung-tanggung, tim Matahari Terbit ini berpesta dengan enam gol tanpa balas saat bentrok menghadapi Macau pada laga perdana di Stadion Kaharuddin Nasution, Rumbai, Kamis (5/7).

Enam gol yang dilasakan Jepang ke gawang Macau masing-masing disumbangkan, Hirota, Akino Hiroki, Suzuki (dua gol), Watari dan Ueda Naomichi.

Jepang yang diunggulkan dalam laga ini memang terlihat lebih mendominasi jalannya pemainan. Akurasi dan kerjasama yang dibangun duet striker Suzuki Ryuga dan Kinoshita membuat barisan pertahanan Makau harus berkerja ekstra keras. Berkali-kali peluang tercipta, namun kurangnya konsentrasi membuat peluang tersebut kandas.

Gol yang dinanti-nantikan Jepang akhirnya datang juga. Tepat menit ke-17, Hirota yang menerima umpan lambung tidak menyia-siakan kesempatan. Dengan sontekan kaki kanan, kiper Ho Man Fai terpaksa harus memunggut bola di gawang sendiri. Lima menit kemudian, Jepang kembali memperbesar keunggulannya lewat kaki Akino Hiroki. Keunggulan tersebut bertahan sampai turun minim.

Unggul 2-0 tidak membuat serangan Jepang berkurang. Begitu babak kedua dimulai, Jepang langsung melakukan tekanan kejantung pertahanan Makau. Hasilnya, untuk ketiga kalinya kiper Makau Ho Man Fai harus memunggut bola di gawang sendiri lewat gol Suzuki.

Makau berusaha untuk mengejar ketinggalannya. Tapi, usaha dan kerja keras yang dilakukan Pang Chi Hang dan kawan-kawan belum membuahkan hasil. Justru sebaliknya, gawang mereka kembali kebobolan setelah Watari yang masuk di babak kedua berhasil mencipta gol. Tidak itu saja, 12 menit kemudian Suzuki menciptakan gol keduanya setelah mendapat umpan dari Arona. Keperkasaan Jepang semakin menjadi. Lima menit sebelum pertandingan usai, Suzuki kembali mencipta gol ketingannya.

"Jepang sangat kuat. Kami sudah berusaha melawannya, tapi belum mampu. Apalagi setelah minum, pemain langsung droup dan konsentrasinya menurun. Untuk pertandingan berikutnya, kami akan berdiskusi sesama tim dan menyusun strategi yang baru," kata pelatih Macau Leung Sui Wing.

Di pertandingan lainnya di Stadion Utama Riau, Singapura yang diunggulkan bakal meraih kemenangan dengan mudah dari Timor Leste harus berkerja ekstra keras. Singapura menang tipis 2-1 dari negara yang memerdekan diri dari Indonesia ini. Dua gol Singapura diciptakan striker tunggal, Fareez dan Madhu M Mohana. Sementara gol penyeimbang Timor Leste tercipta melalui Diogo Santos Rangel.

Pelatih kepala Singapura Mike Wong merasakan permainan yang cukup ketat bersama Timor Leste. "Saya mengakui mereka tim baru yang cukup berkualitas, dan tim kami juga sedikit mendapat perlawanan yang berarti," tukasnya, sembari mengharapkan peluang menang pada partai selanjutnya.

Sementara Norito, pelatih Timor Leste, mengakui beberapa kelemahan timnya. Perlawanan yang cukup berat bagi timnya. Kemudian minimnya pengalaman membuat para pemain kaku.

Untuk selanjutnya Timor Leste akan berhadapan dengan Indonesia. "Mereka [Singapura] sangat bagus. Tetapi kita telah menunjukkan yang terbaik. Kita harus mempersiapkan tim menghadapi Indonesia," tandasnya. (gk-22)

yahoo

Sports Apr. 30, 2012 - 06:00AM JST

TOKYO —

Results of Japanese baseball games played Sunday.

Pacific League

Seibu Lions 3, Orix Buffaloes 1
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 4, Tohoku Rakuten Eagles 0
Chiba Lotte Marines 2, Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 1

Central League

Hiroshima Carp 3, Yakult Swallows 0
Yomiuri Giants 2, Hanshin Tigers 0
Chunichi Dragons 3, Yokohama DeNA Baystars 0

JapanToday

 

TOKYO —

Argentine great Osvaldo “Ossie” Ardiles urged J-League clubs to spend big to lure the “very, very best”—even Barcelona’s Lionel Messi—and warned they were now losing out to deep-pocketed China.
The World Cup-winner and Tottenham Hotspur cult hero said the Japanese top division was very different from its glory days, when top stars such as Zico, Dunga and Gary Lineker went there late in their careers.
He said Japan’s players needed to learn from the best if the four-time Asian champions, who are currently ranked 30 and reached the last 16 at the 2010 World Cup, are to make the leap into the elite group of soccer nations.
“I’m exaggerating a bit but that’ll be the idea,” Ardiles said at a dinner with reporters in Tokyo, referring to the idea of bringing Messi to Japan. “They (players) should be copying the very, very best.”
“In the last 20 years, Japanese players improved more than in 100 years before,” added Ardiles, who is now coaching second-division Machida Zelvia in Tokyo’s suburbs.
“Why, because they were playing all the time with top, top players. They were playing against Dunga, Jorginho, Ramon Diaz, Gary Lineker, Zico etc.
“Who is the best player right now among foreigners (in Japan)? When you put this player in international level, he’s not Jorginho or Zico.”
But Ardiles said China was now following the Japanese model after Shanghai Shenhua signed ex-Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka, and started pursuing Didier Drogba.
A possible shift in fortunes was highlighted late on Tuesday, when mega-bucks Chinese outfit Guangzhou Evergrande beat Japan’s Kashiwa Reysol to top their group in the AFC Champions League.
“In China, Anelka is going. Drogba maybe going. Japan used to be like that but not any more. This is what is needed,” Ardiles said.
He admitted it would be difficult for the 20-year-old J-League to sign up big names as it needs to “have even more money.”
And with soccer lagging far behind baseball in popularity, the J-League has struggled to stop declines in gates, TV ratings and sponsorships, while homegrown stars moved to Europe, including Borussia Dortmund’s Shinji Kagawa.
But it still has 60 players and nine coaches from abroad in its 18-team top flight, despite now competing not only with Europe, but also the Middle East, the United States and the rest of Asia.
“The next step is to be with the elite” such as Brazil, Argentina, England and Spain, Ardiles said. “Japan has now kind of touched the ceiling.”
“It is a question of culture,” he added. “Football has to be the most powerful sport in Japan.”
Ardiles himself blazed a trail for overseas transfers. After winning the 1978 World Cup at home, he played for Tottenham over 10 seasons to pave the way for foreign players to come to the English Premier League.
“The best thing is to perform,” said globe-trotting Ardiles, who is now in his fourth coaching stint in Japan and has also worked in Argentina, Croatia, England, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Paraguay and Syria.
“If you don’t play any longer, the second best thing is coaching.”

© 2012 AFP

Japan will be out to make the most of its home ice advantage when the International Skating Union’s World Team Trophy gets underway Thursday.

The top six national figure skating teams—Japan, Canada, the United States, Russia, Italy and France—are competing in the April 19-22 event at Yoyogi Arena.

Each team consists of two women, two men, one pair and one ice dancing couple. Each skater/couple will compete with a short program/short dance and free skating/free dance and the highest point total will win.

Japan, which tops the team standings with 7891 points, will field a strong team that includes 2012 world silver medalist Daisuke Takahashi, world bronze medalist Akiko Suzuki and 2011 world silver medalist Takahiko Kozuka.

Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran, who won the bronze medal at last month’s world championships in Nice, France, will represent the host nation in pairs while ice dancers Cathy and Chris Reed round out Japan’s team.

The United States, which won the inaugural team trophy in 2009, will be led by ice dancing world silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold will compete in the women’s short and free events while Jeremy Abbott and Adam Rippon make up the men’s team. Caydee Denney and John Coughlin will compete in pairs for the U.S.

Canada will also be among the title contenders with a team that includes two-time and reigning world champions Patrick Chan and ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

Chan will be joined by Kevin Reynolds in the men’s event while Canadian champion Amelie Lacoste and Cynthia Phaneuf are the entries in the women’s event.

Russia’s team will feature world silver medalist Alena Leonova who will team up with world junior champion Adelina Sotnikova. European ice dance bronze medalists Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov and European pairs silver medalists Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov round out Russia’s team.

Newly-crowned world champion Carolina Kostner headlines Italy’s team. The Italians will also be represented by Valentina Marchei, Samuel Contesti and Paolo Bacchini in men’s, ice dancers Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte as well as pair skaters Stefina Berton and Ondrej Hotarek.

Veteran Brian Joubert and European bronze medalist Florent Amodio will represent France in the men’s event. Ice dancing world bronze medalists Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat and pairs skaters Daria Popova and Bruno Massot will also be skating for France as well as Yretha Silete and Mae-Bernice Meite.

The event was scheduled for April, 2011 in Japan but was postponed following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

source japantoday