14 Apr 2011(Thu)

A couple of years ago this week, I wrote a piece on these pages about two former foreign J. Leaguers, Hulk and Park Ji-Sung, who had launched their careers in Japan’s second tier before later facing each other in the last eight of the UEFA Champions League for FC Porto and Manchester United, respectively. Last season saw audiences in this country wowed by a cameo from one of their own, Keisuke Honda, in the knockout stages of the same tournament after his winter transfer to CSKA Moscow. But the remarkable impact that Japanese football has made on the world so far this decade has been underlined over the past eight days with a milestone of yet greater significance, as full-backs Atsuto Uchida and Yuto Nagatomo appeared on opposite sides of the same quarter-final in Europe’s premier club competition.

 

The only slight shame was that the tie was effectively over before the battle of the blue samurai began. Though left-back has been a problem position at Internazionale, Nagatomo has been used sparingly by coach Leonardo during his two months at the San Siro thus far, and by the time he was introduced a quarter of an hour from the end of last week’s first leg in Milan, opponents Schalke 04 were already 5-2 in front. Having been the subject of a campaign in the Gazzetta dello Sport and other sections of the Italian media in the days since, Nagatomo lined up from the start of Inter’s mission impossible in Gelsenkirchen last night. This meant sharing not only the same pitch but the same flank as Uchida, who played 90 minutes in the initial meeting and retained his position at right-back for the hosts.

 

The pair had their first direct encounter after five minutes, when Nagatomo did well to deal with a quick break from his compatriot, though the favour was returned soon afterwards. With such an improbably emphatic advantage to fall back upon, Schalke were content to allow Inter the ball but deny them space in central areas, forcing Samuel Eto’o closer and closer to the touchline as he fought in vain to stamp his impression on proceedings.

 

On at least one occasion, this led to the slightly incongruous sight of Nagatomo cutting inside towards the penalty area as the Cameroon striker collected the ball on the very edge of the pitch. When Inter’s most industrious duo were able to combine for Ehime’s most famous export since satsumas to demonstrate his trademark overlapping runs and cross the ball beyond Uchida, he could really have done with Eto’o – he of the 32 goals already this season – in the middle to finish things off. As it was, Leonardo’s side lacked the momentum and belief to match their 60% share of possession, and all too often Diego Milito was left isolated to fight a losing aerial battle with the commanding Manuel Neuer.

 

With 82 minutes played, Benedict Höwedes raced through a static nerazzurri back line onto a delicately scooped pass from the evergreen, ever-elegant Raúl, to fire home the goal that secured a 2-1 win on the night, a 7-3 aggregate scoreline, and the end of Inter’s reign as kings of Europe. Typically, Nagatomo was the one visiting player to spot the run and sprint desperately back from his advanced position to try and save a lost cause.

 

Defeat was a rare setback after a year that has taken the 24-year-old from J2-bound FC Tokyo to the club world champions – via the World Cup, Cesena, and a starring role in Japan’s Asian Cup success this January – but more regular opportunities will surely follow. Il Capitano Javier Zanetti may be Inter royalty after 16 years with the club and 12 sporting the armband, but celebrates his 38th birthday later this year and was never a left-back by trade anyway. Fellow positional rival Cristian Chivu, again, is really a converted central defender and, to boot, the one man in Milan capable of picking up red cards quicker than Zlatan Ibrahimović. Leonardo cannot fail to have noticed that Nagatomo was central to much of what did go right for his side at the Veltins-Arena. The Gazzetta certainly didn’t.

 

The man making the headlines on the pink pages showed characteristic humility and generosity after the game. “I was determined never to give up but must accept the result,” said Nagatomo. “Now, my hopes – and those of everyone else in Japan – are with Uchida. This is a great experience for us. I have no doubt that we will be able to keep on growing in future. The fact that two Japanese players have been able to face each other (in a Champions League quarter-final) is down to those who have paved the way before us, and I would like to express my thanks to all of them.”

 

Uchida is certainly the right place to look for inspiration. 18 months Nagatomo’s junior, the three-time J. League champion with Kashima Antlers was not alone in coming down to earth with a bump as Felix Magath tinkered with the Schalke side that finished second in 2009/10 and promptly lost the first five games of the current campaign. A succession of different players were used at right-back, including Höwedes, veteran centre-back Christoph Metzelder, and midfielder Christoph Moritz. After a difficult bedding-in period, Uchida finally established himself in the starting XI in late October, from which point results began to improve.

 

The Shizuoka native has been a constant fixture ever since, and an increasingly assured presence at both Bundesliga and Champions League level. Though perhaps not as eye-catchingly dynamic as Nagatomo, Uchida offered a notable attacking presence in the last 16 against Valencia and at the San Siro last Tuesday. Yesterday, combining with Höwedes and Kyriakos Papadopoulos, he did everything that was asked of him defensively as Schalke comfortably secured their progression. New manager Ralf Rangnick, who has now overseen four straight wins since replacing the unpopular Magath last month, has been duly impressed. “I’ve only known Uchida for three and a half weeks but he’s impressed me a lot so far,” said the former 1899 Hoffenheim boss. “He’s still young, but very mature, very fast, and he can go far.”

 

What began as a nightmarish season for Schalke now sees the Gelsenkirchen side back in the top half of the table, favourites to win the DFB-Pokal ahead of next month’s final against second-tier MSV Duisburg, and looking forward to a European semi-final against Manchester United. Assuming he stays fit, Uchida will be the first Japanese player ever to appear in the last four of the UEFA Champions League. The draw will pit him against one of the world’s finest attacking left-backs in Patrice Evra, who suggested this week that Inter wanted him before Nagatomo. Tactically, it will also be interesting to see whether Sir Alex Ferguson deploys Park Ji-Sung – ten years on from his J2 winners’ medal with Kyoto Purple Sanga – as a ‘defensive’ left-sided forward to counter the threat of Uchida.

 

Having suffered the heartbreak of being dropped for tactical reasons at the World Cup in South Africa, the man himself is ready for the challenge. “No matter how good your own team is, the semi-finals will never be easy,” said Uchida after the second leg with Inter. “But I’ve always believed I was capable of playing on such a stage, and it won’t be long before more of us are here (in Champions League semi-finals) either. We need to show that Japanese footballers can produce ever greater things.”

 

 

* The JFA today officially reversed its original decision to pull out of the 2011 Copa America in Argentina following a plea from the organisers. See tomorrow’s Football Japan Minutecast for more details.