KASHIWA WRESTLE WITH GUANGZHOU IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

It's a promoters dream but can Kashiwa Reysol expect to compete with Guangzhou Evergrande? Over the two legs of the Champions League semi final I think not. 

Kashiwa will host Guangzhou on Wenedsay night, September 25th. The two teams met twice in 2012 during the group stage, and the result then could well be repeated this year. While in Japan Kashiwa managed a 0-0 draw, but at Tianhe Stadium Guangzhou scored a comfortable 3-1 victory. It may be stating the obvious but Kashiwa need to pull out all stocks in order to prevent away goals while at Hitachi Stadium. The 'sun kings' won't want to be travelling to China next week needing away goals in front of a likely packed house.

Working in Kashiwa's favour is their recruitment of Cleo from Guangzhou Evergrande. The forward was recently quoted by the South China Morning Post saying, "I think their strength lies in their attacking player." He put a big emphasis on the contributions of Muriqui and Elkeson, and said of his own position that he wasn't focused on revenge. Also in Kashiwa's favour, fortunately or unfortunately is the fact that their J League hopes are dashed so the Champions League is no doubt the central focus. What is questionable though is Kashiwa's topsy turvy inconsistent form this year. East Asian Soccer noted recently that Kashiwa had lost a number of matches that they were expected to win, and over a two legged semi final this is sure to 'rear its ugly head' again.  

Meanwhile, Guangzhou have all the momentum with a 6-1 aggregate win over Qatar's Lekhwiya. Apart from personal favourite Muriqui, the Japanese should watch out for fullback Linpeng Zhang. The tattooed defender will be up and down the sideline all night ensuring the Kashiwa midfield doesn't get too comfortable. Manager Marcello Lippi spoke to the AFC website recently and gave a backhanded complement saying, "I have studied lots of DVDs and looked at how Kashiwa play and they have a good balance to their side and they are very stable." He added, "They have a strong away record but I am not sure why, maybe this is due to luck."

With captain Hidekazu Otani out due to suspension, and a lack of consistency being the only constant for Kashiwa it's only stage fright that can stop Guangzhou Evergrande from qualifying for the Asian Champions League Final. The two legged final will see them meet either FC Seoul or Esteghlal.  

JAPAN COAST PAST GUATEMALA - SOCCEROOS FACE BRAZIL

Japan's best: Endo, Honda, Hasebe and Nagatomo

On Friday night (06th September), Japan put the cleaners through Guatemala after the visitors put on a gritty first half. Returning from the half time break with Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow) and Yoichiro Kakitani (Cerezo Osaka) coming off the bench, suddenly Japan took control.

Youngster Yuya Osaka started up front for the Japanese but had very few opportunities in a first half dominated by the 'big white bus' parked in front of the Guatemala goalkeeper. The half time changes of Kakitani for Osako (Kashima Antlers) and Honda for Kiyotake (FC Nurnberg) triggered the turn around though.

Keisuke Honda added some urgency and initiative in the attacking third. The CSKA Moscow star headed home a Nagatomo cross from the left. In the 69th minute in form striker Masato Kudo of Kashiwa Reysol made it 2-nil. The goal came about through a short corner which was centred to captain Hasebe. The midfielder's through-ball for Kagawa was sublime, and in turn, the Manchester United striker made it harder for Kudo to miss the goal than score. Yasuhito Endo scored the last of the goals with a deflected free kick. Despite playing in J2 with his beloved Gamba Osaka this season, it appears Endo's class hasn't been affected.

Japan next face Ghana on Tuesday, 10th September, 2013.

SOCCEROOS SMASHED FOR SIX BY BRAZIL

Australia's national soccer team 'the Socceroos', have been given a lesson. Brazil have smashed the Socceroos 6-nil in a cakewalk that exposed the glaring gulf in class between the two teams.

The scoring got underway in the 8th minute with Jo getting the first of his double. It was a simple case of loose marking being punished brutally. Right back Ryan McGowan will be haunted by the image of Neymar for the rest of his career, after the Barcelona ace tormented the youngster for the entirety of the match. The first goal started with Neymar propping and lobbing the ball across the face of goal for Aussie left back Matt McKay to be outstretched by his opponent. But the strike would hit the upright and bounced into the path of big tall Jo. In that one goal every Australian defender was exposed. Surely centre-backs Ognenovski or Neill should have been first to that deflection. Brazil's second goal was courtesy of a brilliant volleyed finish by Jo. It was symbolic of a theme that would pervade throughout the match. Too fast, too big and too strong.

Neymar's goal in the 36th minute magnified Australia's problems with lack of speed in the centre back position. Neymar appeared super human as he strode past Neill and Ognenovski en-route to collect a through ball. His only task was to beat Chelsea reserve keeper Mark Schwarzer. A half time score line of 3-nil signalled the match was over as a contest, and all that was left was for Osieck to blood some youngsters. The fresh players didn't halt Brazil's domination though, as it ended 6-nil.

As is 'the norm', rumours are now circulating that Holger Osieck's time as Australian manager is nearing an end. Prior to the match on September 7th (Brazil time), Osieck spoke about his squad, "Some players that only have few caps have an opportunity, and we have some youngsters, Mitch Duke for instance, I want to see him and how he deals with the situation here . . ." Osieck followed through but it was surprising that Duke was afforded just 12 minutes despite the result being a formality by half-time. In addition to this youngster Tom Rogic only received 20 minutes as substitute for a severely out of touch Brett Holman. The result has caused a massive response in Australia with influential journalists and ex-Socceroos taking different approaches in the aftermath.

One thing we can all agree with is that this crop of youngsters just does not measure up to the standard that was set in Germany 2006.


Robbie Slater vents at senior players
Tom Smithies advocates managerial change

EAST ASIAN CUP HYSTERIA

Cue the hysteria. Australia has had a dour 0-0 draw with Republic of Korea at the East Asian Cup and the fans and media report the match as a disaster. “Axe Holger,” is the cry. Online forums were busy telling us it should have been 5-nil but for the heroics of Eugene Galekovic. However, the tournament needs to be looked at in its true context.

Australia is competing in their first ever East Asian Cup and the tournament has arrived at a time that couldn’t be more convenient. The Socceroos along with fellow participants South Korea and Japan have already qualified for Brazil 2014. The Chinese are unfortunately still in a rebuilding/transitional stage (which seems the permanent status) and so don’t have the luxury of using the tournament as a trialling opportunity.

Pundits and fans should know by now that teams that have been thrown together in such a fashion lack cohesion, and as a result the quality of soccer suffers. Australia’s back four had never played together in club competition (Franjic, McGowan, Thwaite & North), let alone being asked to play at a higher level, alongside players they were not familiar with. Compounding this situation is the difference in fitness between the Australians and their three opponents which Holger Osieck cited. “We must consider that their team is in the middle of the season, and their fitness was outstanding, whereas our boys have not played competitively for a couple of months.” If that wasn’t enough we also need to consider the contrasting weather conditions. The Australians are coming from winter (15-20 degrees) to the Korean summer where temperatures are hovering around 30 with intense humidity.

So we need to take the tournament for what it is: a trialling ground for individuals to stake a claim for Brazil 2014. And with that purpose in mind we can only hope that there are some break out performances in areas of the pitch where the Socceroos are struggling. Amazingly it's not only the Australian audience who have been apoplectic with East Asian Cup displays. The Japanese were shocked by the their 3-3 result with old foes China last night. But amidst the hysteria manager Zaccheroni told it straight, "We'll be up against three different types of teams. It's a fantastic competition and we need to make the most of it." The Italian added, ". . . If I had to choose between winning with the players not being able to show what they can do, or not winning but finding that one or two of them have what it takes to play for the national team, I'll take the latter." On that note Japan can say that Cerezo Osaka's Yoichiro Kakitani and Masato Kudo of Kashiwa Reysol have proven they're capable of stepping up.

Now lets look forward to Thursday's next installation of the Japan and Australia rivalry.