Today,I want to introduce happy news for me.
My hometown is famous for soccer team.
It is Kashima Antlers. My hometown supports the Antlers with all our face.
The other day, Kashima Antlers turned out hiro who could save Japanese soccer team.
His name is Atsuto Uchida. He is the hope of Our team.
So, I quoted below article.
It wasn't pretty, but that's exactly what Takeshi Okada wanted from his players.
Japan will advance to the final round of 2010 World Cup qualifying as the Group 2 winner after Okada's side beat the clock to beat under-strength Bahrain 1-0 on Sunday.
Before a Saitama Stadium crowd of 51,180, Japan exacted revenge for its defeat at Manama in March with a very fortunate goal by Atsuto Uchida--the Kashima Antler's first for the national team--in the final minute.
Substitute Seiichiro Maki distracted Sayed Mohamed Jaafar as Uchida's header bounced high over the Bahrain keeper for the lone goal of the match.
"This was an important game for us, and it's not just because we lost they last time met," Okada said. "I don't think we played badly at all in the first half but we couldn't capitalize. Finishing is something we need to work on, and our goal wasn't beautiful by any stretch of the imagination.
"But personally, it made me happy to see our players, who have a reputation of being stylish and elegant, to play such scrappy football."
Japan finished the third-round qualifiers with 13 points from six games, two points ahead of runnerup Bahrain. The draw for the Asian final qualifiers starting in September will be held on Friday.
Okada made the decision to play Shunsuke Nakamura from the start despite the risk of him reinjuring his right ankle.
Nakamura hurt the ankle in the 1-1 draw with Oman at Muscat on June 7, and the injury was bad enough that it nearly kept him out of last weekend's Thailand game that sent Japan through to the final round.
A day earlier after training, Nakamura said his ankle had improved in the past week, but playing him against the hard-tackling Bahrainis carried the risk of aggravating the injury--but it was, evidently, one Okada was willing to burden.
True to his word, Nakamura did seem to be lighter on his feet on this night than he did in Bangkok, and in the fifth minute, the left-footed one came across a great opportunity to hand his team the lead.
Referee Ravshan Irmatov awarded Japan a penalty that should never have been awarded, as defender Sayed Mohamed Adnan stopped Hisato Sato with a perfectly clean tackle.
But that didn't stop the official from pointing to the spot, and Nakamura stepped up to try to convert.
A 1-0 Japanese lead seemed all but written in on the scoresheet with Nakamura, who very rarely misses from the spot, taking the penalty. But Jaafar read Nakamura like a book, diving to his left to make a superb save of what was a well-struck penalty.
Japan dominated the rest of the first half, creating several chances before halftime. Yasuhito Endo's free kick during injury time came off the bar, and Keisuke Honda had the rebound all to himself from point-blank range facing an open net.
But the thought of scoring in his national-team debut appeared to have crossed Honda's mind as the Netherlands-based midfielder somehow managed to miss the target.
Milan Macala's visitors made a game out of it in the second half, putting Japanese custodian Seigo Narazaki to the test. The hosts went close a number of times before Keiji Tamada's throw-in led to Uchida's goal.
JAPAN: Narazaki, Uchida, Nakazawa, Tulio, Yasuda, S. Nakamura, K. Nakamura, Honda, Tamada, Sato
BAHRAIN: Jaafar, Husain, Ayyad, Isa, Adnan, Alanezi, Alwadaei, A'faish, Abdulrahman, Omar, Ismaeel
(Jun. 23, 2008)
This news is here:http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/sports/20080623TDY20303.htm
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