Tag Archives: Championship

Japanese players should be more aggressive

Japan’s coach VahidHalilhodzic believes that the Japanese players need to become more aggressive if they want to progress.


He said that the players show too much respect to their opponents and this is what is hindering their progress on the pitch.

Japan has made a poor start to their World Cup qualifying campaign, and there is intense pressure on VahidHalilhodzic to deliver results. There are also talks in Japan about replacing the coach, and they have given him a few more games to turn the results around.

However, VahidHalilhodzic believes that he is doing his job and that it is time for the players to do theirs. He said that the Japanese players are far more respectful of their opponents and that they are not assertive enough on the ball.

He said that the team should develop a winning mentality and that they should always come on the pitch to win games. He believes that the Japan team has some good squad, but it is up to the players to learn how to unlock their potential.

Vahid Halilhodzic says he would like Team to Concede Least

Vahid Halilhodzic says he would like to see the ‘goals-conceded’ tally of his team to remain nil in the Syria match as well which would mark the end of round no. 1 of AFC qualification for the Samurai Blue.


Japan’s net is yet to be shaken by an opposition team so far in world Cup qualification matches which is an incredible record. No team in any AFC group has had so many clean slates in a row.

And, it’s not that they have achieved the record through a defensive play. Their ‘goals-scored’ tally is over twenty which means they have scored in abundance and not to forget that the first match they had played was a scoreless draw. So, all these goals have come in 6 matches only.

To score at a rate of more than 3 goals per match is only possible if a team is pushing on the attack and Japan has surely done that. In fact, in the latest fixture versus Afghanistan, they were even more fearless with every defender looking to move forward and still, it was a clean slate.

On asked of Afghanistan game, Halilhodzic said, “With all due respect to the opposition, from what we had seen of them playing them the last time, we thought we could be ruthless without worrying too much about our backline.”

Performance Of Japanese League In The AFC Champions League

The J League with its mission to increase the Japanese football level has also promoted the flow of the game using the professional football medium. Another objective of Japanese league is to foster the growth of the sporting culture in Japan.

Three of the Japanese football league teams successfully reached to the pitch on 20th April 2016 in the fifth day of the AFC champion’s league group stage. The team FC Tokyo was defeated in a 3-0 loss to Jeonbuk Motors, the K- League champions. The former midfielder of Cerezo Osaka, Kim Bo-Kyung along with Ko Mu-yeol managed to score the opener and also helped Lee Jae-sung on the second goal by making it 3-0 in the stoppage time. Tokyo is now in need of away victory at Binh Duong of Vietnam so as to achieve the round of 16.

As far as the Urawa Reds are concerned, they made their appearance in the tournament after eight years with a draw at Sydney which remains the highest in the group. The results in numbers have eliminated Guangzhou, the current champions from progressing in order to ensure that there is an entry of the new Asian member at the FIFA club world cup this year. Sanfrecce Hiroshima has joined Gamba Osaka in the exclusion pile with loss of 1-0 at Shandong Luneng. However, the defenders of the Japanese football team have surrendered a goal to none other than Diego Tardelli and have been assured a third place finish position in group F.

The African champions have selected Michel Dussuyer as their new coach

Ivory Coast became the champions of Africa after defeating Ghana in the finals of the 2015 African Cup of Nations in a match that had to be decided in a penalty session.

The African champions experienced going through a managerial change as HerveRenard decided to step down from coaching Ivory Coast earlier in May as he went on to take charge of the French club Lille.

When HerveRenard left his managerial post in Ivory Coast, a 59 man shortlist was announced by the Football Federation of Ivory Coast as the African Nation was on the search for a new manager that could replace Renard.

This shortlist was later cut down from 59 to only 5. These 5 potential managers were: Henry Kasperczak, Michel Dussuyer, Patrice Neveu, Paolo Duarte and Frederic Antonetti. With the exception of Frederic Antonetti, every other manager has already had experience taking charge of African nations.

Jose Mourinho is backing his former striker Didier Drogba

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is backing his former striker, Didier Drogba, to be a major success in the MLS.

The striker is on the verge of joining an MLS club with both Chicago Fire and Montréal Impact interested in his services. Both clubs will be getting an ageing striker on an extraordinary wage packet, but Mourinho believes that Drogba is fully worth this respect. The 37-year-old striker may be on his last legs in terms of playing football, but the contribution that he makes to the squad is invaluable according to Mourinho. In fact, the Portuguese manager has gone as far as saying that he would make Drogba as his first signing at each of his clubs.

The Ivory Coast international was a major factor in Chelsea keeping the trophy hunting going even during the dark at times at the club. The club has gone through more than 10 manages the last decade, but the players have been the constant aspect. Drogba was a major factor in keeping the team united in the hunt for trophies. Without the influential figure of the former Marseille striker, the blues may not have achieved the success. Drogba decided to leave Chelsea after just one season due to the lack of regular football.