Last night, as I mentioned in my previous post, Japan's Under-21 team played a match against Kuwait. This was their 2rd round qualifier. These 2nd round qualifiers are played in two legs, and last night's match was the first leg. It was in Japan. Generally, it is more difficult to play away, so it is generally considered important to win the home leg. If the total number of goals for the two teams over the two legs is the same, the team with the most away goals wins, so, just as the away team wants to score, the home team wants to avoid conceding any goals.
The result was 3–1 to Japan. It was a good result, though Japan was a little disappointed to concede a goal, especially after looking so much better than Kuwait throughout the match. Ohsako (from Kashima Antlers) played pretty well. I think the away leg will be held on Thursday in Kuwait, and I hope it will be televised too.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Father's Day
Yesterday was Father's Day. I am very busy these days with work, so I had to go to Kumamoto University for the whole day. But I finished work early, in order to get home by 6, and when I got home my wife said: "Hey, let's go out to eat." So we went to a nearby restaurant that sells "kushi katsu", and we had a nice meal there. When we got home, I discovered that my wife had recorded a soccer match for me to watch. I hadn't realised that there was a match so this was a nice surprise. Moreover, the match was very nice. It was a qualifying match for next year's Olympic Games, between Japan and Kuwait. Japan played very well and won 3–1.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Wizard of Oz
I've just finished my first podcast episode, about the Wizard of Oz. Please check it out!
Black Swan
Have you seen the movie Black Swan? I finally got to see it last weekend. I had been looking forward to it for a long time, and I bought a discount ticket at a convenience store a few months ago. As you probably know, Natalie Portman is the star of the movie, and she won an Oscar for her performance as a young ballet dancer who is chosen as the Swan Queen in the Tchaikovsky ballet Swan Lake.
The movie was interesting, especially the performance of Mila Kunis as Lily, another dancer in the ballet company. Unfortunately, I didn't think the performances of Vincent Cassel and Natalie Portman were particularly good. But the movie is pretty interesting and well worth seeing.
The movie was interesting, especially the performance of Mila Kunis as Lily, another dancer in the ballet company. Unfortunately, I didn't think the performances of Vincent Cassel and Natalie Portman were particularly good. But the movie is pretty interesting and well worth seeing.
Premier League
The 2010-11 Premier League season has finished, as you probably know. The 2011-12 season will begin in late August, I think, but some teams will be back in action as soon as June 30th. Those teams include Fulham, who have qualified for Europa League qualifiers through fair play over the 2010-11 season.
As happens every season, some managers have been sacked, and others have quit their jobs. Fulham manager Mark Hughes resigned last week, and Fulham announced just a few days later that they had hired Martin Jol, a former Spurs and Ajax manager, to take over. Aston Villa's Gerard Houllier, who was hospitalized for heart problems during the season, left his post, and Aston Villa are still looking for a replacement. Wigan's Roberto Martinez was invited to take over the job, but he chose to remain with Wigan. The biggest vacancy is at Chelsea, where Carlo Ancelotti was fired after coming second in the league and being knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
As happens every season, some managers have been sacked, and others have quit their jobs. Fulham manager Mark Hughes resigned last week, and Fulham announced just a few days later that they had hired Martin Jol, a former Spurs and Ajax manager, to take over. Aston Villa's Gerard Houllier, who was hospitalized for heart problems during the season, left his post, and Aston Villa are still looking for a replacement. Wigan's Roberto Martinez was invited to take over the job, but he chose to remain with Wigan. The biggest vacancy is at Chelsea, where Carlo Ancelotti was fired after coming second in the league and being knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Soccer, continued
In my last post, I talked about soccer, so I'd like to continue with that topic. I mentioned that Manchester United lost to Barcelona in the Champions League final, and that Manchester United hadn't really found a way to fight against Barcelona convincingly. One interesting aspect of the match is that Manchester United kept Barcelona pegged back for a short time at the beginning of the match, and that at one point the manager, Alex Ferguson, got angry with Wayne Rooney. One theory is that Rooney's main job was to mark Busquets and thus to stop Barcelona's attacks from the beginning, but that he was more interested in attacking so Busquets had too much freedom to play. Thus, the manager was angry with him for neglecting his defensive duties. Interestingly, Manchester's play seemed to get worse after the altercation, so some think that Rooney became angry with the manager and ignored his instructions.
Another recent match was England against Switzerland. England conceded 2 early goals but came back to draw.
Another recent match was England against Switzerland. England conceded 2 early goals but came back to draw.
The Wizard of Oz
Dorothy walked briskly along the yellow road, her silver shoes tinkling on the bricks.
In the first episode of my podcast, I introduce the wonderful story, The Wizard of Oz.
Soccer
Although the soccer season in Europe is over, there have been some matches to watch on TV. The first of these was the UEFA Champions League final, featuring Manchester United from the U.K. against Barcelona from Spain. Barcelona was the favorite, but in the days before the match many people were saying that Barcelona's travel plans and their lack of matches before the big match would make them less sharp.
The final two years before had featured the same two teams, and in that match Barcelona won. Many people said that Manchester United's tactics had been at fault, so everyone was looking forward to seeing Manchester's tactical plan this time.
For the first ten minutes, Manchester looked impressive, but after that Barcelona dominated possession, and my impression was that Barcelona had improved a lot since two years ago, while Manchester had failed to learn any tactical lessons. The match ended 3-1 to Barcelona.
In Japan, the Kirin Cup is taking place now. Japan's first match against Peru was not a good one, but it will be intereresting to see how they play against the Czech Republic tomorrow.
The final two years before had featured the same two teams, and in that match Barcelona won. Many people said that Manchester United's tactics had been at fault, so everyone was looking forward to seeing Manchester's tactical plan this time.
For the first ten minutes, Manchester looked impressive, but after that Barcelona dominated possession, and my impression was that Barcelona had improved a lot since two years ago, while Manchester had failed to learn any tactical lessons. The match ended 3-1 to Barcelona.
In Japan, the Kirin Cup is taking place now. Japan's first match against Peru was not a good one, but it will be intereresting to see how they play against the Czech Republic tomorrow.
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