matchreport - 06-Mar-10 - brewerkz v. nippon
Team Nippon
Author Masaya Satoh
line up
(GK) Osugi (DF) Nogawa, Hama (Nakagawa), Ogi, Kosshi (MF) Yusuke, Asa,
nMasaya, Fuji (FW) Yasu, Nabe
Brewerkz vs Nippon
AUTHOR
nMakoto Hamada
n
nLINE UP
n(GK) Osugi (DF) Nogawa, Hama (Nakagawa), Ogi, Kosshi (MF) Yusuke, Asa,
nMasaya, Fuji (FW) Yasu, Nabe
n
nPHYSICAL & MENTAL TOUGHNESS REQUIRED FURTHER..
n
nA game to win or tie at least against Brewerkz, one of the leaders in the
nleague table, for us to keep sight of the 2nd group of Cosmo and finish
nourselves within TOP10…Whilst we were missing some of the key players and
nhad only one sub to stand by, Nippon started the game decently with a couple
nof chances missed for the first 20 minutes with good possession in the
nmidfield.  After a couple of chances made by Brewerkz, however, their first
ngoal came for Brewerkz from their corner - 0-1.
n
nAfter the first goal, our newly-joined goalie, Osugi, kept Nippon goal clear
ndespite quite a few break-ins attempted by Brewerkz until the very last
nminute of the first half when the referee unfortunately made a false call to
nclaim Hama’s handball in the box though not even one of his fingers grazed
nthe ball….Penalty kick successfully made by Brewerkz, which left us 2
npoints behind at half-time.
n
nAfter some minor adjustments at half-time talk, Nippon eagerly and
neffectively recovered themselves with once again the higher possessions
nthroughout the field in the first 15 minutes of the second half.  Yasu made
ntwo goals - one from a good cross from Asa and another via Nabe’s header
nwhich was from an excellent cross by Yusuke. 2-2 tie with 30 minutes left.
nA great improvement shown as a team here - in previous years, we did not
nhave such toughness as a team to equalize again after two or more goals
nbehind, especially against the teams like Brewerkz, one of the top 3 of the
nleague.   While happy to claim this can be proven in the table where we are
n2 or 3 ranks above where we used be till last year, needless to say, there
nis a big room for improvement to further go up on the table, which was well
nillustrated in the last 20mins of our game today.
n
nSupposedly, the fact that we came back to tie the game gave Nippon too much
nconfidence in themselves or made them too conservative to finish the game as
na tie?  In any case, our aggressive running and high ball possession
nsuddenly disappeared from the field.  Substitutes made by Brewerkz were very
neffective and fast and aggressive in attacking area - Brewerkz No.4 dribbled
nthrough two of our players from the left and scored through Osugi, which
nleft us a point behind once again.  And it was not too long before another
ngoal was made by Brewerkz FW’s header from a corner, which literally
nfinished the game.
n
nPhysical and mental toughness required further….Physically, looking back
nour game today, all the goals (except the one from the penalty) broken were
nmade from 1 on 1 attempts from Brewerkz and each of us lost in all of these
noccasions.  While yes our core strength comes from high ball possession as a
nteam, we can’t win games if each of us keeps losing against a person in
nfront.  Mentally, as mentioned above, we’ve shown a great improvement this
nyear but further improvement should be required to go beyond “Thanks to
nNippon for a great and surprisingly tough game.  We are sure you guys will
nfinish the season much better than years before…” and we actually finish
nthe season strong.
n
nThanks much to Brewerkz for a very fair and competitive game.
n
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