Japan should have finished Australia off before Guus Hiddink’s side staged their late comeback in Kaiserslautern. Zico has a game against Croatia today and one against Brazil on Thursday to repair his team’s campaign and put some shine back on a personal reputation that has been tarnished by the tournament thus far.
The likes of Shunsuke Nakamura, Hidetoshi Nakata and Shinji Ono grew up idolising Zico, who came out of retirement to help the J-League get off the ground in 1993. His legacy can be seen in their slashing passes and spinning free kicks but the strikers had fewer role models, with imports such as Gary Lineker failing to leave a lasting impression due to injuries. This is perhaps why Japan create so many chances yet fail to take them.
Naohiro Takahara, their No 9, is a figure of fun in Germany, where he is about to move from Hamburg to Eintracht Frankfurt, for a famous miss in which he managed to spurn an open goal. Clips of him saying “I don’t know what happened” provoke mirth from fans of other clubs. Yet Takahara’s inability to give Japan a killer second goal against Australia was no laughing matter for Zico, who was compared unfavourably with Hiddink in the papers.
Criticism is still a relative novelty for Zico, although one group of fans staged street demonstrations against him as Japan stuttered through their qualifiers. It has been noted that Edu, his brother, is Japan’s technical adviser, while Antonio Luiz Cantarele, the goalkeeping coach, is also a relative. His pre-tournament prediction that Japan could win the World Cup was ridiculed, even in Japan.
Zico did not want the job and had to be persuaded with a lucrative contract. Now 53, he hopes to move into club management in Europe after the tournament.
Advertisement
The players were stunned after the Australia defeat, and repairing morale at their training camp near Cologne was probably the main task for their coach, but Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, the former Portsmouth goalkeeper who played well against Australia, said Zico left the changing room afterwards without saying a word. “We must be ready for Croatia,” added Kawaguchi. “We need to work on our fitness but also our minds. We didn’t work hard enough in the last 10 minutes and didn’t concentrate.” When Japan go into reverse, it doesn’t help that Nakamura and Nakata, two of their three central midfielders, are passengers defensively. This left Japan’s rearguard trying to cope with the incursions of Tim Cahill, as well as the three strikers Hiddink instructed to stay upfield, even after Australia pulled level.
“He said, ‘Just keep going, we’re going to win the game’,” revealed John Aloisi, who scored their third goal. “He was right, too. You must keep believing.”
As with England, it seems everybody in Japan’s midfield sees themselves as a playmaker. Off the field, Nakamura and Nakata are as different as can be. Nakamura is the polite boy next door, Nakata the rebel who prefers foreign journalists to his own media.
A win over Brazil would be the biggest result in Japan’s football history and restore Zico’s sheen. The Japanese refer to a victory over Brazil at the 1996 Olympics as the “miracle of Miami”. Brazil’s team that day featured Ronaldo and Dida, while Japan’s included Nakata and Kawaguchi. They almost managed another miracle at last summer’s Confederations Cup, drawing 2-2 and having a goal disallowed, much to Zico’s chagrin. “I played 89 times for Brazil and I only remember us conceding three goals once, when Italy beat us 3-2 at the 1982 World Cup.”
Cahill may be to Zico’s managerial career what Paolo Rossi was to his playing one.
Advertisement
Japan v Croatia, today, ITV1, 1.30pm, kick-off 2pm