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By Jeremy Walker
TOKYO (June 17)--Jubilo Iwata's bright young prospect Norihiro
Nishi has missed out on a big chance to stake his claim for a
place in Japan's Olympic squad because of a knee injury.
The 20-year-old right-winger was one of five players called into
the full national squad by head coach Philippe Troussier last
Tuesday to prepare for Sunday's Kirin Cup clash with Bolivia at
International Stadium Yokohama.
But he was forced to return to his club on Saturday morning after
twisting his knee during training on Friday.
Nishi, whose eye-catching performances for Jubilo this year earned
him a place in the Olympic squad, will now concentrate on getting
fit for the start of the J.League's second stage, on June 24.
He has played in only 23 league games, scoring seven goals.
Japan held a 90-minute training session at the Yokohama venue
on Saturday morning, and the signs were that Troussier will play
a 3-6-1 formation, despite the fact his team needs to win by at
least two goals to claim the Kirin Cup.
Japan's strengths lie in midfield, even without the Italy-based
duo of Hidetoshi Nakata (AS Roma) and Hiroshi Nanami (Venezia)
and national youth team captain Shinji Ono, who is recovering
from a series of injuries with his club team, Urawa Reds.
Cerezo Osaka's Akinori Nishizawa, scorer of a spectacular right-foot
volley in the recent 2-2 draw against France in Morocco, looks
set to lead the line alone, with midfield support from his Cerezo
team-mate Hiroaki Morishima and from Yokohama F Marinos playmaker
Shunsuke Nakamura.
Nakamura secured a point for Japan in the Kirin Cup opener against
Slovakia last Sunday by curling home a left-foot free kick from
25 meters in a 1-1 draw.
Gamba Osaka's Junichi Inamoto and Shimizu S-Pulse's Teruyoshi
Ito will anchor the six-man midfield, with the recalled Shigeyoshi
Mochizuki (Nagoya Grampus Eight) and Marinos' in-form Atsuhiro
Miura providing width on the right and left flanks, respectively.
Troussier's back three of Ryuzo Morioka (S-Pulse), Naoki Matsuda
(Marinos) and Koji Nakata (Kashima Antlers) worked hard on the
offside trap during training, so Seigo Narazaki (Grampus Eight),
now established as Japan's first-choice keeper, will know what
to expect.
Players such as Koji Nakata, Matsuda, Nakamura and Inamoto are
all certain to be selected for the Olympic under-23 team, but
Nishi must now wait a little longer to prove his value to Troussier.
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