Kobe Wing Stadium by shunkoh (Flickr)

Japan defeated Vietnam in this friendly match to retain the UFWC title, and claim the Kirin Challenge Cup. The match was a warm-up for Japan, who play Tajikistan in a World Cup Qualifier on Tuesday. Alberto Zaccheroni’s team have now been Unofficial Football World Champions for a full 12 months, and are unbeaten in 14 UFWC title matches.

A full-to-capacity 30,132 crowd watched this one in the Kobe Wing Stadium, home to J. League club Vissel Kobe. Japan were again without the injured Keisuke Honda, but welcomed back defender Yuto Nagatomo, who had recovered from a broken shoulder. Yasuhito Endo and Maya Yoshida started on the bench, as did keeper Eiji Kawashima, with coach Hiroshima’s Shusaku Nishikawa starting in goal.

Vietnam’s German coach Falko Götz was relying heavily on star striker Cong Vinh Le, who had scored 31 goals in 47 games before today’s match. Also in the Vietnam team were goalscoring midfielders Nguyen Coung Huy and Nguyen Trong Hoang.

It took almost 20 minutes for Japan to create the first real chance. Jungo Fujimoto’s long ball created a chance for Shinji Kagawa, but the Dortmund player, who has been out of sorts in recent weeks, failed to control the ball properly, and his weak attempt was bundled wide for a corner, which was easily claimed by Vietnam keeper Tan Truong Bui.

Then, in the 24th minute, Japan scored, Tadanari Lee applying the finish to Fujimoto’s cross after great work from captain Makoto Hasebe. Japan led 1-0.

The Japanese created a handful of other chances, while Vietnam struggled to string anything together. Fujimoto shot just wide, then Lee had another chance, latching on to Kagawa’s through ball, but poking his shot wide under pressure from the onrushing Tan Truong. Tomoaki Makino met a Nagatomo cross at the back post and headed the ball across the face of the goal when it looked easier to score. But the first half ended with Japan totally dominant, but just one goal ahead.

Japan began the second half with four substitutes – Kengo Nakamura, Genki Haraguchi, Yuzo Kurihara and Yuki Abe all entering the game. And Vietnam started with a new lease of life. First Nguyen Trong Hoang stole the ball from Yasuyuki Konno, only to see his shot saved by Nishikawa. Then, the Japanese goalkeeper was forced to make a brilliant save from a Cong Vinh header, tipping the ball over the bar.

After that bright re-start from Vietnam, Japan again took control of the game, without really creating any clear chances. Makino fired a free kick straight at Tan Truong, and then picked up an injury that saw him stretchered from the field. Maya Yoshida came on as Makino’s replacement.

Japan created a handful of further half chances, with Lee attempting a header and an overhead kick. And any tiny chance Vietnam had of somehow finding an equaliser vanished when Tran Chi Cong was sent off for a professional foul on Lee with just two minutes left to play.

The final whistle blew with Japan winning by a single goal, which hardly demonstrated their near-total dominance of this match. Only Japan’s familiar lack of cutting edge up front prevented Zaccheroni’s team from winning by a much bigger margin.

So Japan remain Unofficial Football World Champions, and go on to defend their title against brand new challengers Tajikistan in a combined UFWC title match / WC qualifier this Tuesday 11 October. Once again, you’ll find full coverage right here.

Get your UFWC T-shirts, including Japan mascot and trophy, at our T-shirt shop

Match Reports japan, Vietnam

Uzbekistan 1-1 Japan
Tashkent, 6 September 2011
Scorers: Djeparov 8, Okazaki 65

UFWC champions Japan retained their title, but were pushed close by an impressive Uzbekistan side who could easily have won this match and ruined Japan’s fun. Shinji Okazaki was the goalscoring hero, but it was another tenacious team effort from Japan that extended their reign as champions.

In addition to being a UFWC title match, this was also a World Cup qualifier – the second Asian group C match for each side. Both Japan and Uzbekistan had won their previous matches 1-0, against North Korea and Tajikistan respectively. North Korea beat Tajikistan 1-0 in another group match earlier today.

Still without Keisuke Honda, who had knee surgery at the end of last week and will be out of action for three weeks, Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni pushed Shinji Okasaki up to support Tadanari Lee rather than Yosuke Kashiwagi, who was dropped from the team.

Uzbekistan coach Vadim Abramov, who had earlier joked that Japan team was ‘a simple team’, went with Alexander Geynrikh up front, with support in midfield from Odil Ahmedov and team captain Server Djeparov. There was no room for veteran former Dynamo Kiev striker Maksim Shatskikh, who scored the goal against Tajikistan, but was left on the bench.

The game started brightly, and its fast pace rarely let up. Both sides pushed forward, but Uzbekistan’s dynamic midfield dominated the early stages, and created the crucial early breakthrough in the eighth minute. A long shot thudded against Eiji Kawashima’s right-hand post, the ball was knocked back into the penalty area, and Djeparov arrived to sweep a volley past the Japanese keeper. The Uzbek captain celebrated with a somersault. It was 1-0 to the challengers.

Japan continued to get the ball forward, but struggled against the Uzbek’s strong defence. A rare chance fell to Lee on 14 minutes, but the striker hit the post and the ball was cleared.

Uzbekistan continued to stand strong in defence and threaten in attack, and almost scored an incredible goal midway through the first half, when Viktor Karpenko got on the end of a long high ball not too far from Japan’s corner flag and hit an astonishing dipping volley that had to be clawed away from under the crossbar by Kawashima.

For Japan, Yuichi Komano got forward from the left back position to strike a shot through legs that Ignatiy Nesterov did well to hold in the Uzbek goal. Then, at the other end, Ahmedov drove a fierce shot over the Japanese crossbar.

In the final stages of the first half, Okazaki went down under a challenge from Nesterov, but didn’t have any claim for a penalty, then Timur Kapedze fired a low shot across the Japanese goal. Then, in the last few seconds, Lee controlled a high ball and hit a left-foot shot that again struck the Uzbek post.

The second half was less frantic in pace, and with less chances. Shinji Kagawa headed over the bar for Japan, and Geynrikh fired over for Uzbekistan. Nesterov continued to dominate his penalty area, claiming any high balls that Japan fired in. Then the Uzkeks created two good chances – Djeparov seeing his shot blocked on the edge of the box, and Kapadze breaking through only to see Kawashima smother his shot.

Then, on 65 minutes, Japan found an equaliser – Shinji Okazaki meeting a Atsuto Uchida cross with a brave diving header that forced the ball beyond Nesterov into the back of the net. 1-1, and this UFWC title match was all square.

Zaccheroni replaced a visibly upset Lee, who had toiled up front without much luck, with Mike Havenaar, and the big striker had two half chances, placing a shot and a header straight into the keeper. Uzbekistan had a better chance, though, with Djeparov sent clean through, only to roll his shot straight at Kawashima. For Japan, a Kagawa cross-shot that threatened to dip under Nesterev’s goal was punched away by the keeper, but there were no more goals.

The final score was 1-1. The Uzbeks hadn’t quite managed to keep up the pace displayed in their impressive first half, and Japan’s tenacity had eventually paid off. Japan retain the UFWC title and remain Unofficial Football World Champions.

Japan’s next UFWC title match is a home friendly against Vietnam on 7 October. Vietnam has never participated in the UFWC before. Japan, meanwhile, are now in 20th position in the all-time UFWC rankings table, having gone 13 matches unbeaten as Unofficial Football World Champions.

Get Unofficial Football World Champions, the UFWC book, in paperback and on Kindle

Match Reports japan, Uzbekistan

Saitama Stadium, photo by al-hayat, Flickr

Japan 1-0 North Korea
Saitama, 2 September 2011
Scorer: Yoshida (90+)

Despite the arrival of Typhoon Talas, this UFWC title match / World Cup qualifier went ahead as scheduled, albeit in very heavy rain. The soaking conditions weren’t ideal for football, and this wasn’t a classic match. But Japan fought hard to retain their status as Unofficial Football World Champions, and certainly deserved to win.

Japan lined up for the game without star midfielder Keisuke Honda, who injured his knee playing for CSKA Moscow at the weekend. Also missing was Kengo Nakamura, who had been due to return to the squad after a series of injury problems – only to suffer another injury.

There were still plenty of familiar names in the Japan side, including Eiji Kawashima, Yasuhito Endo and Shinji Kagawa, with Urawa Reds midfielder Yosuke Kashiwagi brought in to replace Honda, and Tadanari Lee operating as a lone striker. Maya Yoshida played in central defence, although a mistake on the team sheet incorrectly gave his shirt to Michihiro Yasuda. Yoshida would end up being a key player in this game.

The North Korean team was less familiar, with the state’s familiar secrecy levels apparently extending to football. The North Korean team sheets contained no shirt numbers, and the players’ shirts contained no names. Vfl Bochum’s Jong Tae-se, known as Chong Tese in Germany (and Japan), and ‘the People’s Rooney’ in North Korea, played up front, with Ri Myong-Guk in goal, captain Ri Kang-Chon in defence, and Ryang Yong-Gi and An Yong-Hak, both of whom play in Japan, in midfield.

It was Jong Tae-se who had North Korea’s best, and only, chance of the first period, driving an early shot into the side netting of Kawashima’s goal. Other than that, Japan dominated the first half, having much of the possession, but mostly being restricted to long-range shots on goal.

Japan’s best two first half chance came within a minute of each other. First Lee was unable to beat the keeper with a back-header from a Kashiwagi cross, and then Kagawa went very close with a shot from the edge of the penalty area that curled just outside the right-hand goal post.

Goalless at half-time, the second half began with Japan again dominant, and Makoto Hasebe immediately tested Ri Myong-Guk with a strong shot. However, after a handful of Japanese flurries came to nothing, North Korea enjoyed a short attacking spell. First Ryang Yong-Gi saw his shot deflected wide by Yoshida, and then Jong Tae-se hit a low shot that was well held by Kawashima.

After that, though, it was pretty much all Japan again. Substitute Hiroshi Kiyotake put a shot wide, and then another sub, Mike Havenaar, lobbed a shot onto the North Korean crossbar with his first touch on his international debut. Havenaar is of Dutch descent – his father Dido moved to Japan to further his own football career before Mike was born.

Any real chance North Korea had of winning this game ended in the 83rd minute, when Pak Kwang-Ryong was shown a straight red card for his nasty tackle on Yasuhito Endo. From that point, it was all about Japan, who piled pressure on the North Korean defence, without quite managing to break through. Atsuto Uchida and Kagawa both put efforts wide, and Yasuyuki Konno hit the bar, as the final whistle approached.

Into the final few seconds, and Kagawa tried again – his header was brilliantly tipped around the post by Ri Myong-Guk. But, from the corner kick, and with 94 minutes on the clock, Japan finally broke the deadlock, with Yoshida rising to power a header into the back of the net beyond the unlucky North Korean keeper.

They had left it very late, but Japan had scored the only goal of the game. It finished 1-0, and Japan retained the UFWC title.

But there is no time for the unofficial champions to rest. Next up for Japan is another UFWC title match / World Cup qualifier, against Uzbekistan on Tuesday. Uzbekistan are playing Tajikistan in a WC qualifier today. The Uzbeks have never played in the UFWC before, although they have held the spin-off unofficial Asian title. We’ll preview the match on Monday.

Match Reports japan, North Korea