On a workday evening in Tokyo, salary-men hit their local Izakaya for a feed – chicken parts on a stick, rice, beer, cigs – just enough to get them home in one piece.  Needing only a draw to progress, Japan could have served up something equally functional in Rustenberg.  Instead, spectators got the Kobe beef, the toro tuna, Japan’s finest stuff.

Who knew they had it in them?  Coach Takeshi Okada and his kool-aid drinking players apparently, who publically targeted a semi-final place during the build-up to the Cup:

     tinyurl.com/Blue-Samurai-PR

Straight-faced throughout, Okada was not joking.  I think.  As on the touch-line, he makes half-Japanese thespian Keanu Reeves seem expressive.

In Japan, this amounted to outrageously blowhard rhetoric, as opposed to the USA where such big talk is expected.  Media and fans alike hammered him to an extent that stylish 3-1 victory over the Danes triggered an outbreak of public apologies to the coach.

Apology in Japan is an intrinsic art form, with seemingly endless ways to say you’re sorry including variations on the traditional:  bowing, speaking, and topping oneself.

And like any good art form, this one is evolving fast.  If you doubt this phenomenon, check out the tweet rate recently on hashtag #Okachan_Sorry (‘Sorry Coach Okada’ using a term of endearment):

     tinyurl.com/Sorry-Coach-Okada

Akada was equally bold in his actions coming into the Cup, including Shunsuke Nakamura from midfield.  Nakamura is a household name to any UK football fan due to his creativity and match-winning (often mind-bending) free kicks at Celtic. Cup preview websites still front the team with his picture.  

Okada has publically phrased him for his selflessness and influence on the team.  Nakamura, in turn, has stated that Okada has them playing ‘our own way’.  Defining this style meant acting more freely rather than following the commands of superiors without question.  Paradoxically, defining a unique Japanese way means first acting less typically Japanese.

The coach also deployed in-form CSKA Moscow midfielder Kiesuke Honda as striker.  Honda has been a revelation at the Cup with plenty of support from Yasuhito Endo, Diasuke Matsui, and splendidly named defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka among others.  The latter has prevented Japan from getting bullied in the box to date, and that will be key again today if this run is to continue.

Feeling a little sorry?  Me too, but at least we're not alone.