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© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Kagawa selection dilemma hangs over Japan
By STEVE DOUGLAS CUIABA, Brazil©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
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smithinjapan
Kagawa is FAR more talented than Honda, so drop the latter if you're going to drop a major team member. Kagawa may not have scored any goals in the game against IC, but it was an odd decision to leave him out of the game in Greece, and clearly the result of doing so was not very good.
OzKen
Here's a thought bubble. How about you play them both? Dropping one or the other is a ridiculous notion. They are two of Japan's best players regardless of current form. Zaccheroni has capitulated badly and has shown up his inabilities in the WC. Dropping Kagawa against Greece was ridiculous enough, the game had to be won at all costs, but during the game Zaccheroni kept Kagawa on the bench for ten minutes after the Greek player got sent off. That is a clear sign of his distinct lack of tactical awareness and willingness to change things up.
Osako, and Okubo in particular, aren't up to the standard of the international game. Okubo didn't even feature in the qualifiers and most friendlies but yet he seems to be the first picked now at the WC. Why hasn't Okazaki been considered as a frontman where he has scored 15 goals playing for Mainz in the Bundesliga this season. Or even put Honda up there, as a false 9 as he was played in South Africa to decent success and stack the midfield with extra creativity/bodies (Kiyotake and Kakitani). Zaccheroni has self-imploded with his decisions. The guy has been in the job for 4 years and the end result for that is stupid tactics. What a waste of time.