For soccer fans and those interested.  A Japanese perspective of what
transpired yesterday at the Lens stadium in France.




Senegal vs Japan- A Japanese view From Cnnsi message boards...

Senegal dominated most of the game physcally and tactically, and I must give
very heigh praise to the Senegalese. It was very entertaining game.

I've never seen Senegal by yesterday, and I was very surprised to see how
good they were. They are not at the level of France, yet they are good enough
to be listed in world's top 20.

Japan didn't have many problems vs African champions Cameroon in the
Confederations Cup because they missed a few starters and they didn't have
tactics. But Senegal, even though next year's WC will be their first
international
debut, was more completed in every aspect. They were fast and strong, just
like their neighbors in Africa. Also, what was notable and outstanding was
they
were very organized and balanced between individual skills and tactics and
team tactics. As all the players play in Europe(many play in French Div 1),
they
were very sophisticated and intelligent. Now I understand why they could beat
Morocco, Egypt and Libya to qualify for the WC. Teams like Brukinafaso and
Mali are making big strides in all the age groups including seniors in the
past
few years. They have decent skills and very good understanding to play
tactically. Senegal is among them.

Each Senegalese player had unusual rhythems and creativity to control the
ball
and break the defense. The Japanese apparently were put into confusion
whenever they faced the Senegalese in offense and defense. Yet, the
Senegalese didn't rely too much on the individual excellence, unlike the
stereotypical Africans. They had good speed on the passes and positioning
moves in coordination with their teammates. When the Senegalese were under
Japan's pressing, they had very quick exchanges of passes and then knocked
the ball to the other side on the pitch. Defensively, they had good pressing
system by compacting the zone between the FWs and DFs.

Soon after the game was started, DF Kouji Nakata repeated the same type of
mistake that he committed vs Spain. His weak backpass was cut by the
Senegalese, and GK Tsuzuki, who made the 2nd debut in this game, managed
to punch off the close-range shot in one-to-one situation. Kouji Nakata
continued to show shaky defense by repeating a number of mistakes, and
whole Japanese defense quickly lost the composure. Japan made so many
forced and unforced mistakes, some of them were deadly intercepted deep in
the Japanese territory.

Offensively, Troussier didn't start the game with the best roster. FW
Takahara
and FW Suzuki were first-time duo, and Troussier started Oku as sidehalf.
Also, because of the absence of H.Nakata and Morishima and Ono's injury, he
started Fujimoto, who has only 1 cap by playing only for 5 min vs Paraguay in
July.

As Japan's defense were pushed far deep, and there was no fluid offense via
midfiled buildup, Senegal overshot Japan by something like 15-0 in the first
half. But good saves of GK Tsuzuki and inaccuracy in the Senegal's shots
ended the half by 0-0.

Troussier replaced FW Takahara, MF Fujimoto and DF Nakata with FW
Yanagisawa, MF Itoh and DF Hattori at the start of the 2nd half. Japan
appeared to gain more power for the first 10 min, but the shaky defense and
fast and intelligent attack by Senegal brought the momentum back to the hands
of the Senegalese. Troussier made a few more substitutions in an attempt to
regain the composure and test players, but it didn't change the course of the
game.

DF Matsuda committed the foul just a few yards outside the penalty box, and
Diouf curled the ball into the Japan's net from FK to open the score at the
79th
min. Another terrible mistake in the injury time by MF Toda provided another
scoring chance for Senegal, and the shot beat the Japanese goalie to end the
game in 2-0.

Overall, Senegal was far better side. But it was very good for Japan to add
inputs, and they would know how to play when playing against such a
complete team like Senegal.

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