Japan gives Angola a taste of Asia

TOKYO – Japan will give Angola their first taste of Asian football today as the Asian champions look to tune up against African teams ahead of the World Cup next year in Germany.

It is the last match for Japan this year and Angola’s first since securing a World Cup berth. It is also the visitors’ first match against any Asian side.Japan coach Zico had been hoping to play African teams as Japan has a strong chance of being drawn against one of them in the preliminary round in Germany.”The physical strength of African players is outstanding and their foot skills are tricky,” Zico said.”But it sometimes happens that they lose their concentration over 90 minutes.We must be ready to attack them at that moment,” the Brazilian legend said.”I expect us to face difficulties if we give them a space for counter-attack or a chance of one-on-one battle.We must cope with their unpredictable attacks and play solidly to further improve our game.”Since Zico took over after the 2002 World Cup, Japan have played four games against African teams, beating Nigeria 3-0 and Tunisia 1-0, drawing 0-0 with Cameroon and losing to Senegal 1-0.Zico has summoned Europe-based players – Bolton’s Hidetoshi Nakata, Celtic’s Shunsuke Nakamura, West Brom’s Junichi Inamoto, Hamburg striker Naohiro Takahara and Messina’s Atsushi Yanagisawa – for Wednesday’s friendly in Tokyo.Marseille’s Koji Nakata was sidelined due to a red card in the previous friendly against Ukraine last month.”I always want to win, even if it’s a friendly or a match to gain three points.I want my players to always have the same fighting spirit,” said Zico.”We must learn the African way of football and we must try to vary our play widely.We must also improve our counter attacks through this game,” added Zico Zico has 32 wins, 12 draws against 15 defeats for Japan overall.Angola qualified for the World Cup for the first time when they finished level with mighty Nigeria in the African Group 4 last month thanks to a superior head-to-head record.But Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves did not call up Portugal’s Benfica striker Pedro Mantorras, who has just come back from a knee injury, or experienced midfielder Andre.His 21-man squad includes Alex from the newly crowned league champions Sagrada Esperanca, striker Edson from Portugal’s Pacos Ferreira, veteran midfielder Simao from AS Aviacao and Joel from InterClube.- Nampa-AFPIt is also the visitors’ first match against any Asian side.Japan coach Zico had been hoping to play African teams as Japan has a strong chance of being drawn against one of them in the preliminary round in Germany.”The physical strength of African players is outstanding and their foot skills are tricky,” Zico said.”But it sometimes happens that they lose their concentration over 90 minutes.We must be ready to attack them at that moment,” the Brazilian legend said.”I expect us to face difficulties if we give them a space for counter-attack or a chance of one-on-one battle.We must cope with their unpredictable attacks and play solidly to further improve our game.”Since Zico took over after the 2002 World Cup, Japan have played four games against African teams, beating Nigeria 3-0 and Tunisia 1-0, drawing 0-0 with Cameroon and losing to Senegal 1-0.Zico has summoned Europe-based players – Bolton’s Hidetoshi Nakata, Celtic’s Shunsuke Nakamura, West Brom’s Junichi Inamoto, Hamburg striker Naohiro Takahara and Messina’s Atsushi Yanagisawa – for Wednesday’s friendly in Tokyo.Marseille’s Koji Nakata was sidelined due to a red card in the previous friendly against Ukraine last month.”I always want to win, even if it’s a friendly or a match to gain three points.I want my players to always have the same fighting spirit,” said Zico.”We must learn the African way of football and we must try to vary our play widely.We must also improve our counter attacks through this game,” added Zico Zico has 32 wins, 12 draws against 15 defeats for Japan overall.Angola qualified for the World Cup for the first time when they finished level with mighty Nigeria in the African Group 4 last month thanks to a superior head-to-head record.But Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves did not call up Portugal’s Benfica striker Pedro Mantorras, who has just come back from a knee injury, or experienced midfielder Andre.His 21-man squad includes Alex from the newly crowned league champions Sagrada Esperanca, striker Edson from Portugal’s Pacos Ferreira, veteran midfielder Simao from AS Aviacao and Joel from InterClube.- Nampa-AFP