Tahiti's
participation in the 2013 Confederations Cup has been an enjoyable
story, if somewhat undermining of the competition itself. Their 10-0
defeat to Spain rather summed up their tournament; they are there to
make up the numbers whilst also to give everyone a new perspective from
which to view international football. The French-Polynesian island will
gain fans from the competition - and probably a few extra tourists - but
their players are unlikely to make significant inroads in terms of
their personal sporting careers. For those of other nations, however,
the competition represents a fantastic opportunity to further enhance
their reputation on the world stage.
While
Spain and Brazil have found things rather simple in gaining successive
wins from the competition so far, Italy, despite having also managed two
victories to guarantee qualification for the semi finals, struggled to
overcome a impressively free-flowing Japan side on Wednesday night. The
2011 Asian Cup winners found themselves two goals up and utterly
dominating the Euro 2012 runners up after 40 minutes. Coach Cesare
Prandelli knew things were just going to get worse at 1-0 and duly made a
change in system, replacing Alberto Aquilani with Sebastian Giovinco.
It worked, and his side came back to eventually run out 4-3 winners, but
the focus afterwards wasn't on the poor performance of the Italians at
the beginning, nor on their comeback, but rather the impressive nature
with which the underdogs had taken ahold of the game.
Arguably
foremost in the thoughts of those analysing the game were Japan's trio
of attacking midfielders, their goalscorers on the night. Keisuke Honda
calmly converted the somewhat debatable penalty that Gigi Buffon had
conceded, before Shinji Kagawa doubled his side's advantage with a
clinical turning volley into the bottom corner. Whilst it wasn't the
most spectacular of volleyed goals, it showcased his impeccable
technique which he has arguably not had sufficient chance to show off in
his debut season in English football. The final goals of the three was
scored by Shinji Okazaki, who levelled the game late on with a darting
run and header past Buffon. Those are Japan's only goals at the
competition, and ultimately they were all in vain. Nonetheless, to have
run Italy so close was an achievement in itself.
Keisuke Honda
occupies the central role behind the striker and aims to unlock the
opposition defence with a killer pass. With 5 key passes against Italy,
no player has played more in a game at the Confederations Cup, and 3 of
the 5 other players to have equalled that tally did so for Spain against
Tahiti. His 77% pass accuracy in that match gives more of an indication
of his ambition with the ball rather than any inadequacies in his
passing, with the CSKA Moscow midfielder often looking to split the
opposition defence when others might play an easier, less incisive pass.
That can be frustrating as a teammate, but given the success he has it
would likely be detrimental to the side to try and limit his creativity
in order to better retain possession.
In
his performance against Italy, Honda was responsible for 3 of the 6
successful dribbles that were completed by both teams, whilst also
pitching in defensively with a tackle and 3 clearances. Honda's contract
in Russia is in it's final 6 months and it looks like he will be moving
on a free before too long, and what a free transfer he'd make. There is
little doubting that interest in him will be widespread and increasing
after his showing in Brazil.
Manchester United's Shinji Kagawa
is Japan's most involved player; he has had 157 touches of the ball so
far at the competition - the most in the squad and 5th most overall (and
3 of those to have had more have faced Tahiti). Against Italy he had a
full 36 more than any opposition player, with 103 to Andrea Pirlo's 67.
Starting on the left, Kagawa drifted infield to get on the ball more
often and did so to good effect. With 5 shots, he had the joint most in
the match - including his goal and a follow up header that hit the bar
when the score was 3-3 - whilst also playing 3 key passes and
maintaining an impressive 89% pass accuracy - better than an Italy
player other than Christian Maggio (who only played 59 minutes) despite
attempting 28 more passes than any Italy player. He clearly works hard
to find space and make himself available, and even without the ball his
work rate is instantly noticeable. He constantly closes down opposition
defenders and has resultantly won possession in the attacking third of
the pitch more times (3) than any other player at the Confederations
Cup.
Not
yet able to hold down a place in the first team at Manchester United,
former manager Jurgen Klopp recently expressed his despair at how little
gametime he has been given since his move to Old Trafford from Borussia
Dortmund. But with Wayne Rooney possibly off this summer, there may be
an opening in the United lineup for the Japan international to take
advantage of. Furthermore, after his latest showing against some of the
finest players on the planet, he has given himself every chance of
winning a regular spot under new manager David Moyes.
Shinji Okazaki
was utilised on the right in the absence of Hiroshi Kiyotake, having
played as the lone striker against Brazil, but his attacking threat was
hardly sacrificed despite a new role. The versatile Stuttgart player
scored once and hit the woodwork twice more from his 5 attempts on his
way to a man of the match- winning rating of 9.03. Vastly different from
Kagawa on the opposite wing, Okazaki remained on the periphery of the
game for long periods, only attempting 24 passes in his 90 minutes on
the pitch. He completed just 79% of those passes and created only 1 of
Japan's 23 goalscoring chances. But that is not his game, his threat is
in front of goal. Whilst a fairly well-known entity at a mid-table
Bundesliga side before the tournament, he will certainly have been
noticed after this display.
Unfortunately
for Japan, their efforts were futile and they are already out of the
competition. Their final match against Mexico has nothing but the pride
of Asia against that of Central and North America riding on it. However,
whilst before the tournament Japan would have been favourites to finish
bottom of Group A, performances at the competition will have changed
many of those preconceptions, and Mexico could well be in for a surprise
this weekend.
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