Japan relish Italian challenge Japan stunned Argentina 3-1 on November 14 at Komazawa Gymnasium in Tokyo with goals from Kensuke Takahashi, Kenta Fujii and Yoshifumi Maeda in the second game of a two-game warm-up series ahead of the FIFA Futsal World Championship. http://www.jfa.or.jp/e/index.html (FIFA.com) 17 Nov 2004 "Adding new flowers to a brocade" is a typical Asian ideal in almost all walks of life, and this is exactly what Japanese football is aiming for. Having suc- cessfully defended the continental title in the Asian Cup 2004, the progressive footballing nation are focusing on their five-a-side football team, who look to showcase their development in the forthcoming FIFA Futsal World Championship in Chinese Taipei. Japan have cemented their place as the second best futsal power in Asia with a third consecutive runners-up spot at this year's AFC Futsal Championship. Al- though handed tough assignments against European Champions Italy, CONCACAF title holders USA and Paraguay, the players coached by Brazilian Sergio Aguiar Guimaraes Filho ('Sapo') seem to show no fear at the prospect. Grass-roots success Despite starting later than Asian champions Iran and Uzbekistan, where futsal enjoys a relatively longer history than any other nations in the continent, the smaller football game has seen rapid development and improvement in Japan. After nearly ten years of sustained efforts, futsal has made big strides at both grassroots and national level. "We have now over 170,000 registered futsal players and 3,000 teams all over the country," said a proud Yujiro Yamaji, the national team manager. "The large pool provides a plethora of talent for our national team and also forms the foundation for a planned national league." "We have a national futsal cup which is staged annually and by the year of 2006, a national futsal league of 8-10 teams will start." Yamaji said of the Japanese FA's blueprint of the future. Futsal is becoming so widespread in Japan that the smaller game has taken root among women. The first-ever futsal national women's tournament in Japan - the T-FAL Cup Ladies Futsal tournament, was staged on 6-7 November at Komazawa Gymnasium in Tokyo, according to JFA's official website. Playing in a yellow hue It is no secret that many in Japan's football circle advocate a Brazilian style, with swarms of teenagers trained there and the national team coached by the Brazilian football legend Zico. The national futsal team is also taking the yellow hue with Sapo appointed head coach of the national team. "Only two or three years ago our national team were not so good, but now they are showing the good progress we had made," explained Yamaji. "Things have changed greatly and the national team have made sound improvements in recent years, particularly under the new Brazilian coach." Japan marked their progress in 2002 when they reached the AFC Futsal champion- ship final, where they lost 6-0 to Iran. The following year's tournament saw Japan came close to toppling Iran in a 6-4 final in Tehran. However a well- prepared Team Melli defended their title by beating Japan 5-3 in this year's AFC Futsal Championship final. "Most importantly our team have improved through high-tempo international competition, which has helped them gain practical skills and big-match experience. And we will become the team to beat as long as we are progressing steadily towards our goals," added Yamaji. Tough group includes European Champions While some teams might prefer to play against weaker sides in the FIFA Futsal World Championship, Japan's Brazilian coach is excited about the tough tests ahead. "Group C contains rather hard teams as we have to face Italy, who beat the reigning world champions Spain before they overcame Ukraine in the final of this year's European Futsal Championship. And USA and Paraguay are also formidable opponents," said the determined 'Sapo', who certainly isn't phased by the prospect of a long hard tournament. "We are looking to play against these strong powers, and we will try to beat them." The Japanese team are not professionals and all have day jobs. However, in order to prepare the team well for Chinese Taipei 2004, the Japanese Football Association have arranged extended training camps. Following a shorter training camp which ended on 3 November, another was held on 8 November which lasted for one week, during which Sapo's team played two friendlies against Argentina on 13 and 14 November. Japan lost the first match 1-2, but managed to win the second 3-1. Argentina were technically the better side in both matches, but Japan's defence in the second match was impressively solid and well-organised. These friendlies aroused immense interest from supporters as they were the Japanese futsal team's first ever matches on home soil. -- █ ███ ███ █ █ ███ ███ █ █ █ ███ ███ ▇ █▂▂ █▂▂ █ █ █▂▂ █▂█ █ █ █ █▂▂ █▂▂ █▂█ █▂▂ ▂▂█ ███ ▂▂█ █ ▌ ███ █▂▂ █▂▂ ▂▂█ ～ M i h a j l o v i c ～ --

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