Right, so, not the best start to this game. We knew it was gonna be a tough game considering that Japan are ranked 50th in the world (and should be much, much higher), and we’re, well, let’s say significantly lower.
A brilliant ball by Kagawa set up the first goal, though a slip from Moss sealed the deal. Then a dodgy penalty, where it looked to get the ball, and even still Glen Moss nearly pulled off a great save, getting fingertips to the ball though he couldn’t divert it from his path. Penalties are one thing, but we should be able to defend free-kick set pieces. Come on. A great cross, a good header and it’s 3-0 down after 12 minutes – worst possible start.
Unbelievable flicked pass for the next goal, compounded by sloppy keeping – Moss seemed to struggle to pick it up? Could have been the swerve of the ball, or maybe he was caught admiring the assist. 4-0 after only 17 mins. At this point it actually felt like double figures are on the cards. Japan are playing superbly and the All Whites seemed shellshocked.
The Japanese players are able to play in the space between traditional positions, whereas the kiwis struggled to adapt to their own regular, strict tactics, and simply couldn’t handle the fluid style. And when we got turned around at the back, the midfield would just disappear. There was no shape. Meaning we couldn’t get the ball out of defence since every clearance just hit a Japanese player. Add to that how comfortable they all were on the ball, that more or less explains the one-sided possession stats at that stage. Unfortunately it’s also the same trend that got us in such trouble against Mexico.
The All Whites seemed to have no ability to keep the ball, getting panicked by tight Japanese marking and high pressing. With hopeful long balls as an early out option. When we did get passes together, it could look really pretty, but it was at such a pace that it was like crossing a tightrope on a unicycle.
It needs to be remembered at this stage that we don’t even have a coach. So we can’t overreact over the tactical mistakes. In fact, as the first half went on, we showed some surprisingly good attacking combinations. Players at least wanted the ball at their feet – not settling for lazy crosses or blind shots.
And this was a very young team. Guys like Storm Roux, Ryan Thomas, Bill Tuiloma and Tyler Boyd. The All Whites are building towards the 2018 World Cup campaign, and these are just the initial steps. Look for those guys, along with the likes of Winston Reid, Chris Wood and Tommy Smith to be anchoring this team by the end of that run.
Bill Tuiloma’s a talented kid. A very promising defender, somewhat in the mould of Winston Reid, with a strong defensive presence. Great distribution too, maybe a little over reliant on the long ball, but then so are our regular defenders. And he seems to know how to find space on the end of his passes.
This really is a very strong Japanese team. And a big loss was always on the cards. So it was good to see the All Whites steady the ship a little more after the early pummelling, and start to move the ball forward. This game was all about performance and combinations.
I’m interested in what Kosta’s role is in this team. He seems like a poor man’s Marco Rojas they way he’s normally used, playing as a nippy striker out wide. He’s kind of stuck between positions. Still, he really grew into this game once we were able to open the game up in possession and he could use his pace to spread the defence.
There was a superb atmosphere in the ground for this game. The Japanese fans sang from the opening whistle to the final piercing one.
And then finally, a lovely goal from Chris Wood! Strength, physical advantage and unexpected skill on the ball – that’s Woody in a nutshell. And the finish was clinical.
Tyler Boyd is really fast and creative. Sometimes brilliant, sometime ineffective for Phoenix, sure, but he had a very good debut here. And he’s still so young! The same seems to go for Ryan Thomas too.
Much better start to the second half. We managed to hold some possession, create some chances, could well have had a couple goals out of it too. The defence picked up. Albeit, Japan obviously cooled off with their big lead.
Suddenly it’s 4-2, after a goddamn glorious finish from Chris Wood. And now this is a positive scoreline, given the gulf between the two nations. Definitely better than we would have been expected to do, scoring a couple goals against the best team in Asia. Take away the disastrous opening and this is all positive.
A great save from Moss late on from a free-kick. He made a few errors in the first half that led to goals, so good to see him showing what he’s really capable of.
Really impressive the turnaround in the ultimate outlook of this game given how pessimistically it started. Despite it all, we came away with a morale boosting result. Great composure (eventually) and great effort. And we won the second half 1-0!
At this stage, the All Whites don’t appear to have another game scheduled, so likely won’t play until the end of the European club season at least. The women’s team (who are always punching above their weight) have a few big games coming up though, in fact they play Japan themselves soon.