Perspectives

Members of Japan's national football team react after a 5-3 penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay during their World Cup round of 16 match in Pretoria, South Africa, on Tuesday, June 29. (Mainichi)

Japan was just one step away from success on June 29, but making it into the quarterfinals of the World Cup in South Africa proved too high a hurdle.

While Japan missed out on a spot among the top eight teams, it nevertheless managed to proceed to the round of 16 for the first time at a World Cup on foreign soil. Through its games, Japan's style of competition on the world stage is taking shape.

It was the style of play that Japan exhibited in the three games of the first round of the World Cup that carried the team along. Instead of showing off his top footwork skills, Daisuke Matsui placed priority on fierce pursuit of the ball. When the opponents made a shot on goal, Yuji Nakazawa slid down and defended with his body. In this type of play there was none of the elegance that is seen when a team has control of the ball and makes skilled passes to break past its opponent's line of defense.

The Japanese players kept close to the ball, and even if one opponent got past, two or three players rushed up in a style of play that was able to bridge the gap in the competitors' individual strength. What made this unrefined style of play possible were Japanese players' capacity for exercise and their alert and agile form which has proved itself in global competition.

On the day before Japan's match, coach Takeshi Okada repeated what he had said many times before: "When you stack up bricks, some of them are sure to fall. There will be a time when bricks need to be stacked up somewhere at the sides." This saying can be applied to the progress of Japanese soccer as a whole.

In the 2002 World Cup which was hosted by Japan and South Korea, Japanese players led by then coach Philippe Troussier, who instilled discipline in the team, were somehow governed by a sense of satisfaction in making it to the round of 16. In their first match in the knockout stage, some of the players who had played in the first round were replaced. The result was a loss.

The string of bitter experiences resulted in the Japanese team's latest approach, in which its unique style has been thrust to the forefront. But just because Japan made progress during this tournament, it doesn't mean it is guaranteed a ticket to the round of 16 every time.

Commenting on the team's progress, Okada said, "When asked if the level of soccer has definitely risen, that's something I would have to think carefully about."

In its match with the Netherlands, Japan got a taste of the gap between players' individual strength. If the players do not have individual strength, then the team as a whole will not have a whole lot of strength either.

Japan's previous coach, Ivica Osim, told his players not to rest. Those words remain a message to the whole body of Japanese soccer. Japan was beaten, but now is not the time to stop. (By Yoshihiro Ezure, Sports News Department)