Soccer: Olympic team 'outclassed'

The difference in class and professionalism was a stand-out feature in the Japanese Olympic soccer team's 4-0 win over New Zealand in Tokyo.

New Zealand team manager Glenn Turner yesterday offered few excuses for the performance, saying New Zealand were simply outclassed.

"They [Japan] are a very classy outfit and [coach] Ken Dugdale said so afterwards. He went so far as to suggest that they could well win a medal at the Olympics in September."

Naohiro Takahara, from Asian club champion side Jubilo Iwata, scored twice for the home side in front of a crowd of 35,000.

Japan's first goal came from midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura from a free-kick in the 18th minute, with Takahara making it 2-0 before halftime.

Takahara and substitute Hiromi Kojima added two more in the second half to seal an emphatic victory.

Turner said New Zealand spent much of the game on defence, with Japan's speed and skill seeing their players dominate on the ball.

"All of their players are in the J-League. They all play professional football here. It is not an excuse but a reality that the bulk of our players come from our domestic competition, which hadn't even started by the time they arrived here.

"In addition to that, we've had to bring in other players from other parts of the world, while we still didn't have some players like John Foundoulakis, Kris Bouckenhooge, Paul Urlovic and Raf de Gregorio.

"Even then I don't know they would have made a great difference because the Japanese game has improved dramatically, almost light years in standards."

- NZPA