The Hindu : Sport / Football : Japan trounces India in return leg too

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 09, 2004

Sport

Sport - Football

Japan trounces India in return leg too

By Amitabha Das Sharma

KOLKATA, SEPT. 8. Japan trounced India 4-0 in the Asian Zone qualifier match for the 2006 World Cup football finals in Germany at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Wednesday.

India had put up a brave fight initially just to go down tamely in the later stages. The first session of the match had the host in quite a glorified situation compared to its plight at the end as the scoreboard displayed only a solitary goal deficit, that happened because of a 45th minute goal by striker Takayuki Suzuki.

A power cut in the stadium for 30 minutes after the interval tended to give the host some rest but the benefit of the situation seemed to accrue to the visitor which pumped in three more goals after the restart.

Japan's celebrated midfielder Shinji Ono opened the floodgates following the change of ends with a goal in the 59th minute. The scoring was continued further by Fukunishi Takashi, who scored the team's third goal in the 71st minute, while captain Miyamoto completed the tally netting in the 87th minute.

The win helped Japan keep its winning record intact as it tallied 12 points winning all the four matches it played so far in the group league. India had to be satisfied with the three points it collected from its win against Singapore at Goa in the initial stages of the tournament. The other team in the group is Oman.

Japan met a resolute defence posted by the host in the first session, and could manage only one goal just when the Indians looked to be resting on their oars almost having attained the objective of not conceding a goal. The 45th minute goal was a lucky one and would not have happened had the Indian custodian, Sandip Nandy, not seen his clearance off a Alessandro Santos shot reach an unmarked Suzuki on top of the box.

The host did not show signs of fear facing a famed opponent and matched Japan man to man in its defensive stance. The alertness in India's defence was quite remarkable as the foursome — Sameer Naik, captain Devjit Ghosh, Dipak Mondal and Mahesh Gawli — deputed as the rearguards showed commendable efficiency in clean tackles and first time clearances.

Naik and Ghosh took the burnt of the attack as the Japanese preferred to attack through left with Santos and Ono in tandem taking the initiative to feed the visitor's attack. The long aerial provisions too were taken care of Mondal and Climax Lawrence, who doubled up as the fifth man in defence falling back from his midfield slot, mostly ensuring that the ball did not reach the opponents. The rest was taken care of by Nandy who showed brilliant anticipation under the bar and made at least three good saves to contain the Japanese forwards — Suzuki and Naohiro Takahara.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport