SAMURAI BLUE (Japan men's national team) settled for a 2-2 draw against Venezuela in the 2014 Kirin Challenge Cup at International Stadium Yokohama on 9th September.
Japan took leads twice with MUTO Yoshinori and SHIBASAKI Gaku, both of whom had been called up to the national team for the first time, in the second half, but both times they were tied and failed to bring their new head coach Javier Aguirre his first win with the team.

Japan entered the match changing five players from their first contest of the tournament. They placed MIZUMOTO Yuki, SAKAI Gotoku in the defensive line, SHIBASAKI in the middle, OSAKO Yuya at the center forward position and KAKITANI Yoichiro in the left wing, but struggled to adjust to the bold attacks by the Venezuelans early.
Venezuela, who's also got off to a fresh start under a new coach like Japan and lost their first match against Korea, had fine condition and put pressure on the Japanese players, while they threatened the Japan goal with their attacks around midfielders Luis Manuel Seijas and Alejandro Guerra and forward Mario Rondon.
Against the Venezuelan attacks, Japan got physical around defender YOSHIDA Maya and midfielders HOSOGAI Hajime and MORISHIGE Masato to stop them. Meanwhile, Japan had a scoring chance when Osako on 28th minute and Kakitani on 38th reacted well to lateral passes and tried to fire shots. Kakitani ran into near the goal and kicked a pass fro Shibasaki with his right foot a minute later, yet his shots were saved by the opposing goalkeeper both times, before the match entered halftime with a 0-0 score.

Japan sent forwards OKAZAKI Shinji and Muto, substituting Osako and Kakitani, respectively, from the beginning of the second half, and got some rhythm offensively.
Then on 51st minute, Japan finally struck first. Muto, who robbed the ball in the midfield and dribbled up, came before the penalty box, dodging a tackle from behind, kicked it hard to net a goal.
Yet six minutes later, a Japan player fouled Guerra to give a penalty kick. Rondon netted the kick while Japan goalkeeper KAWASHIMA Eiji jumped to the opposite direction.
Japan tried to attack with quicker lateral plays as men like Okazaki and Shibasaki looked to score, but their shots missed the goal mouth.
Yet on 66th minute, Japan, who took a cleared ball by the opponents, quickly began their attack and Okazaki, who received a pass from Muto, launched a cross from the deep left side to the far side. Shibasaki ran up and volleyed it, which bounced on the grass, into the net.
Honda tried to add another one with a free kick 10 minutes later, but it was deflected by the left goal post, drawing sighs of the 64,007 spectators at the stadium.
Venezuela would not stop their rallies. On 71st minute, defender Gabriel Cichero fired a long shot from the left side. And it went into the goal after it hit Kawashima's hands to equal the contest.
Japan sent TANAKA Junya, taking Hosogai out, yet would not have another goal before the final whistle.
Japan are scheduled to face Jamaica at Denka Big Swan Stadium in Niigata on 10th October, and Brazil in Singapore four days later in international friendlies.

The details are:

Comments

Javier AGUIRRE, Head Coach
The draw is a proper result. The opponents played better in the first half, but our substitutions went well and scored two goals, yet we came up short. If we made the shot that hit the post, we would've finish the match. After this, we want some luck so we don't give up goals even when we make mistakes. Our players did well both on and off pitch, but they have a lot more things to work on. It's our biggest benefit that the players who had newly been selected showed good plays. We've got the new blood and the future going forward, toward four years later. I'm satisfied.

FW MUTO Yoshinori（FC Tokyo）
It felt the best to play in the packed stadium and score the goal. When the squad was announced two week ago, I was worried if I was good enough, but I was going to play my own game with the maximum effort. Now I've gotten to know what I can do and what I need to work on, and I would like to technically improve. I think that I've grown as a football player this time. I would like to grow more until the next time.

MF SHIBASAKI Gaku（Kashima Antlers）
I wanted to win. On the scoring scene, I got a good pass and only had to put it in. I want to appreciate my teammates. It was the first game I played in, but I tried to keep in mind to aggressively move. Though I scored one, it's disappointing that the team lost. So I want to reflect on this game, and develop my game when I return to the club.

GK KAWASHIMA Eiji（Standard Liège）
Although our younger guys played well, I pulled their legs because of my own mistake. Our team were working well as we were proceeding in the second half. We have more chances to move the ball up front, and I think that we made progress since our first match in Sapporo. And although we tended to have more mistakes in the first half, it was positive that we had better concentration in the second half.

FW HONDA Keisuke（AC Milan）
It's frustrating that we couldn't keep the lead until the end. There were some factors and we created some mistakes on our own. Individually, I wanted to contribute with a positive outcome and it's disappointing that we could not do so in both games. While we showed some things our coach wanted us to do, our combinations didn't go so well. Yet we have some positive things and don't have to become negatively. What we need now is to proceed this new system with confidence. It wasn't great, but it wasn't so bad of a start. In terms of our new players that our coach wanted to see, we got to have some results there. And obviously each player has to come up with firm outcomes at his club, he won't get called up again, so personally I want to have extra focus when I go back to the club.

Noel SANVICENTE, Venezuela National Team Head Coach
It was a good match for both sides. We prevailed in the first half, but both teams attacked and showed spectacle contest. We played aggressively, but couldn't capitalize on our goal chances. Japan created chances on their own and scored goals when we felt were playing better. We should have gone more offensively. But I think that we are going to get better taking some time and taking advantage of the opportunity that we had this time. We took a good start. We take these two games positively, and capitalize on them for us going forward.

JFA-TV

KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2014

Tuesday 9 September　vs. Venezuela National Team
Kanagawa／Internatioinal Stadium Yokohama
Kick Off at 19:20 (estimate time)／Open 16:20 (estimate time)
Nationwide Live Broadcast on TV Asahi Network
More Information