Japan
While known as one of the powerhouses of the AFC confederation today, Japan were very much an unknown quantity around the time when the qualification for Italia ’90 began. It had only been a year prior to the World Cup qualification that they had taken part in the Asian Cup of nations: In 1988, Japan had qualified for the continental tournament for the very first time. It could well be argued that they had not had to negotiate the toughest of qualification groups, although you can only beat what’s in front of you. Finishing runners-up to group winners Kuwait, the Japanese had qualified at the expense of Jordan, Malaysia and Pakistan. In the tournament proper, held in Qatar, they hadn’t fared too well, finishing bottom of their five nations group, and thus bowing out at the first hurdle. Considering this was the ninth edition of the AFC championships, it was, by current day standards, quite remarkable how Japan had never previously qualified.
Japan’s ‘football claim to fame’ had been the bronze medals in the 1968 Olympic Games held in Mexico. They had finished ahead of Brazil (!) in the group stage, second behind Spain, and then toppled France 3-1 in the subsequent quarter-final. Kunishige Kamamoto had run riot in the goalscoring department, notching no less than seven times, making him leading scorer of the tournament. They had lost to eventual winners Hungary in the semis, but had recovered in time to win against the host nation in the third place play-off match.
With their participation at the 1988 Asian Cup of nations, and with the country due to stage the next event four years later, one could claim that Japanese football was finally looking to get out of the doldrums. Could reaching their first ever World Cup even be a possibility? Despite recent progress, it did seem too much of an ask. The qualification process was a long and difficult one, and there were several nations ahead of them in the continental rank who surely were better equipped. However, a fine scalp in the shape of an away win at China in the qualification for the 1988 Olympic Games in October ’87 had boosted their confidence. Ultimately, the Chinese would go on and qualify for the competition proper in South Korea.
For the inaugural group stage in the Italia ’90 qualification, Japan had been placed in a group with Indonesia, Hong Kong and North Korea. There was little doubt that it was the latter which would be the biggest obstacle for Japan.
In June and October ’88 respectively, Japan had lost home friendlies against China (0-3) and South Korea (0-1). They had four friendlies in ’89 prior to embarking on the qualification itself, one early in the new year, and three during the couple of weeks leading up to their first qualifier:
Friendlies
20.01.1989: Iran 2-2 Japan
Goals: Maeda 2
Line-up: Matsunaga – Horiike, Ihara, Hirakawa – Sano, Hasegawa, Hashiratani, Asaoka, Sasaki – Yoshida, Maeda
05.05.1989: South Korea 1-0 Japan
Line-up: Matsunaga (c) – Horiike, Ihara, Kajino – Mori, Hasegawa, Hashiratani, Oenoki, Sasaki – Mochizuki (Asaoka 65), Maeda (Kurosaki 77)
10.05.1989: Japan 2-2 China
Goals: Kajino, Maeda
Line-up: Matsunaga – Shinto, Ihara, Kajino (Horiike 72) – Mori (Hirakawa 69), Hasegawa, Hashiratani, Natori (Oenoki 75), Sasaki – Mizunuma (Maeda h-t), Yoshida
13.05.1989: Japan 2-0 China
Goals: Maeda, Yoshida
Line-up: Morishita – Horiike, Ihara, Kajino – Mori, Hasegawa, Hashiratani, Oenoki (Natori 78), Sasaki – Maeda, Yoshida (Mochizuki h-t)
National team coach at this point was Kenzo Yokoyama. Aged 46 coming into the qualification, he was a former international with nearly 50 caps from the 60s and 70s. He did seem to favour playing with a libero and a pair of centre-backs, and would also play with either a single or a pair of forwards.
While we are in no position to claim any certainties with regards to their batch of pre-qualification friendlies, judging by the personnel in use for these four friendlies, Yokoyama had already designed his print, identifying it as a 3-5-2 formation.
World Cup qualification
Match 1
22.05.1989: Hong Kong 0-0 Japan
Line-up (3-5-2): Matsunaga (c) – Horiike, Ihara, Kajino – Mori (Shinto 61), Hasegawa (Mizunuma 78), Hashiratani, Oenoki, Sasaki – Maeda, Yoshida
Match 2
28.05.1989: Indonesia 0-0 Japan
Line-up (3-5-2): Matsunaga (c) – Shinto, Ihara, Horiike – Mori, Hasegawa (Kurosaki 86), Hashiratani, Mochizuki, Sasaki – Maeda (Mizunuma 81), Yoshida
Match 3
04.06.1989: Japan 2-1 North Korea
Goals: Mizunuma 74, Yong-nam 88 (own goal)
Line-up (3-5-2): Matsunaga (c) – Shinto, Ihara, Horiike – Mori (Kajino 62), Hasegawa, Hashiratani, Mizunuma, Sasaki – Yoshida, Maeda (Kurosaki 85)
Match 4
11.06.1989: Japan 5-0 Indonesia
Goals: Horiike 6, Maeda 17, Shinto 19, Hasegawa 24, Kurosaki 69
Line-up (3-5-2): Matsunaga (c) – Kajino, Ihara, Shinto – Horiike, Hasegawa, Hashiratani, Mizunuma, Sasaki – Yoshida, Maeda (Kurosaki 67)
Match 5
18.06.1989: Japan 0-0 Hong Kong
Line-up: Matsunaga – Kajino, Ihara, Shinto – Horiike, Hasegawa, Hashiratani (Natori 80), Mizunuma, Sasaki – Yoshida, Maeda (Kurosaki 62)
Match 6
25.06.1989: North Korea 2-0 Japan
Line-up: Matsunaga (Morishita 74) – Kajino, Ihara, Shinto – Horiike, Hasegawa, Hashiratani, Mizunuma, Natori, Sasaki – Yoshida (Kurosaki 65)
Conclusion
Japan’s undoing was their inability to win, or even score, away from home. They only managed successive 0-0 draws in Hong Kong and Indonesia at the start of their qualification, and though they managed to defeat North Korea in their first of three straight home matches, before toppling Indonesia by five nil, they then could only play out another scoreless home draw with Hong Kong. This was prior to travelling to Pyongyang for their final outing, knowing that they ought to at least obtain a point to remain with a chance to progress. The North Koreans won that game, and then had a further pair of home matches which they negotiated with a maximum points tally to take them through to the next phase of qualification. Japan finished two points behind and were out.
For the win against the North Koreans, Japan had to come from behind, only securing the dual points thanks to a late own goal by the visiting captain. This set them up nicely ahead of the pair of next home fixtures against winnable opposition. The 5-0 thrashing of Indonesia wasn’t quite as impressive in how it came about as the scoreline suggests, as they were ruthlessly effective. With Hong Kong up next, another two points would’ve applied some solid pressure on the North Koreans prior to the pair’s encounter in Pyongyang. Yokoyama opted for the same line-up against Hong Kong, but in Kobe they were unable to find the back of the net even once. This brought the pressure back on to the Japanese themselves as they would need a result in North Korea to stand a chance of progressing through to the next phase.
The line-up in the North Korean capital is a slight deviation in comparison to what the management had been utilising until then. Natori came into the side without having previously appeared in either of the five qualifiers. He is listed as a midfielder, and we see regular striker Maeda, their most skillfully adept forward, was out of the eleven. Either one of the other players moved into a forward role alongside Yoshida in Pyongyang, although it is difficult to suggest a likely candidate, or Yokoyama decided to further bolster his midfield by adding a sixth member. Either way, we’re extremely curious as to how they appeared in their final, decisive qualifier. With a 2-0 loss, even losing captain and goalkeeper Matsunaga before the second goal went in, they looked unlikely to progress. A win and a draw from their final two matches would see North Korea advance. As it were, they won both. Japan were out.
Table:
1. North Korea 6 4 1 1 11-5 9
2. Japan 6 2 3 1 7-3 7
3. Indonesia 6 1 3 2 5-10 5
4. Hong Kong 6 0 3 3 5-10 3
North Korea advance through to the second and final phase of the AFC World Cup qualification.
Post qualification
Friendly
23.07.1989: Brazil 1-0 Japan