The South African adventure has come to an end for the 23 players involved. Some have of course been involved more than others, with 6 players playing every minute (the back 5, plus Honda), while 5 saw no action at all. So how did they get on individually? Well my brief opinions are below, but no doubt we’ll all have slightly differing views on several of them, so let me know what you think ..

So Yasuyuki Konno knacked his knee against the Ivory Coast yesterday but no decision has been made yet about whether to replace him or not. Coach Okada said… “It is ligament damage so it’s doubtful he will play in the first game. This kind of injury normally takes two weeks to heal.” “There is still time so we’ll have a look at him over the next two or three days. He was walking af..

Japan’s final World Cup warm-up match ended in another defeat, this time 2-0 to the Ivory Coast. The goals came courtesy of an early strike in the 13th minute from Didier Drogba another Tulio own goal (this is becoming a habit!), and a second on 79 minutes from Kolo Toure. This time Tulio’s own goal was a deflection from a Drogba free-kick – let’s just hope he’s getting all these thin..

Ok folks – here it is in all its glory…Japan’s final 23 for the World Cup. Goalkeepers: Seigo Narazaki(Nagoya Grampus) Eiji Kawashima(Kawasaki Frontale) Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi(Jubilo Iwata) Defenders: Marcus Tulio Tanaka(Nagoya Grampus) Yuji Nakazawa(Yokohama F Marinos) Atsuto Uchida(Kashima Antlers) Yuto Nagatomo(FC Tokyo) Daiki Iwamasa(Kashima Antlers) Yuichi Komano(Jubilo Iwata) Yasuyuki ..

Ok so this match isn’t exactly what we’d been hoping for from our World Cup warm-up fixtures, an under strength Japan taking on a severely under strength Serbia, but let’s take a more positive outlook on it all. This match does provide the opportunity for players (on both sides) to stake their claim for a World Cup place in the absence of some of the more established players. We’ve had ..