Japan's World Cup Prospect
Tatsuya Tanaka only played his first match for Japan this summer but the FIFA World Cup™ finals hopeful could not have asked for a better start.
The Urawa Reds forward may face a battle with the likes of Atsushi Yanagisawa and Masashi Oguro for a starting place in Zico's side but his performance against China in the Eastern Asian Football Federation (EAFF) Championship underlined immediately his predatory prowess.
On his first international start, the 22-year-old struck a superb late goal to earn Japan a draw after they had trailed China 2-0, and in doing so earned himself a call-up for the final match of Japan's FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign against Iran. An injury denied Tanaka a second chance to impress Zico but he is determined to ensure that further opportunities come his way.
"For the time being I must do my job well with my club and help Urawa Reds win this season's J-League," he said in a recent interview with FIFAworldcup.com. "Because this is the only thing that I can do to earn a place in the national team and play in the World Cup in Germany next year."
Early daysTanaka started to play football at the age of seven. Growing up in Tokuyama City on the southern tip of Japan's main island, Honshu, his talents attracted the attention of football scouts while he was still attending the Shuyo Elementary School. By his teens, Tanaka was ready to follow the old-fashioned route of the football hopeful in Japan, entering a specialist 'soccer' school, in his case the renowned Teikyo High School in Tokyo.
In spring 2001, Tanaka left school and stepped into the professional ranks, joining Urawa Reds. It was not long before he struck his first goal in senior football and the date remains etched on his mind. "Among all the goals I've scored for my club, the most memorable was my first as a professional. I scored in a 4-2 win against Tokyo Verdy and I can remember the date clearly – 6 May 2001," he says. Since then he has become a regular, if not prolific, scorer, recording 35 goals in 111 appearances to date for Reds. Last season he netted ten times while this term he has seven goals to his name already.
Every footballer, be it a park player or a professional, grew up with a hero they wished to emulate, and Tanaka is no exception. The player he looked up to was striker Masahiro Fukuda who in the 1995 season was the most prolific scorer in Japanese football, with 32 goals in 50 games - and obviously Tanaka took note.
Another hero was Kazu Miura, Japanese football's star player in the first years of the J-League, who is still playing today at second division Yokohama FC at the age of 38.
/06/en/photos/index.html?aid=198057&d=1Enlarge PhotoPhoto Gallery
Out to prove himselfNow Tanaka's aim is to prove he can do a job for the national team. The EAFF Championship in Korea Republic offered him a first opportunity, following Zico's decision to use a squad of home-based players for the tournament and, in doing so, experiment a little. In the absence of European-based forwards Yanagisawa and Naohiro Takahara, Tanaka featured as a second-half substitute in the opening 1-0 loss to Korea DPR and was named in the starting lineup for the following fixture against China.
There it was that he made his mark. China started strongly and an inexperienced Japan side went in at the interval two goals down. After Teruyuki Moniwa had pulled a goal back, Tanaka picked the perfect moment to claim his first international goal, rocketing a shot into the roof of the net with three minutes left on the clock.
Afterwards Zico said of his new faces: "I think they did a good job given that this was the first time they had played together. They produced a lot of chances, although it would have been better if they had converted more of them." It can only help Tanaka's cause that, of all the new faces, he was the man who found the finishing touch when it mattered.
The Urawa Reds forward may face a battle with the likes of Atsushi Yanagisawa and Masashi Oguro for a starting place in Zico's side but his performance against China in the Eastern Asian Football Federation (EAFF) Championship underlined immediately his predatory prowess.
On his first international start, the 22-year-old struck a superb late goal to earn Japan a draw after they had trailed China 2-0, and in doing so earned himself a call-up for the final match of Japan's FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign against Iran. An injury denied Tanaka a second chance to impress Zico but he is determined to ensure that further opportunities come his way.
"For the time being I must do my job well with my club and help Urawa Reds win this season's J-League," he said in a recent interview with FIFAworldcup.com. "Because this is the only thing that I can do to earn a place in the national team and play in the World Cup in Germany next year."
Early daysTanaka started to play football at the age of seven. Growing up in Tokuyama City on the southern tip of Japan's main island, Honshu, his talents attracted the attention of football scouts while he was still attending the Shuyo Elementary School. By his teens, Tanaka was ready to follow the old-fashioned route of the football hopeful in Japan, entering a specialist 'soccer' school, in his case the renowned Teikyo High School in Tokyo.
In spring 2001, Tanaka left school and stepped into the professional ranks, joining Urawa Reds. It was not long before he struck his first goal in senior football and the date remains etched on his mind. "Among all the goals I've scored for my club, the most memorable was my first as a professional. I scored in a 4-2 win against Tokyo Verdy and I can remember the date clearly – 6 May 2001," he says. Since then he has become a regular, if not prolific, scorer, recording 35 goals in 111 appearances to date for Reds. Last season he netted ten times while this term he has seven goals to his name already.
Every footballer, be it a park player or a professional, grew up with a hero they wished to emulate, and Tanaka is no exception. The player he looked up to was striker Masahiro Fukuda who in the 1995 season was the most prolific scorer in Japanese football, with 32 goals in 50 games - and obviously Tanaka took note.
Another hero was Kazu Miura, Japanese football's star player in the first years of the J-League, who is still playing today at second division Yokohama FC at the age of 38.
/06/en/photos/index.html?aid=198057&d=1Enlarge PhotoPhoto Gallery
Out to prove himselfNow Tanaka's aim is to prove he can do a job for the national team. The EAFF Championship in Korea Republic offered him a first opportunity, following Zico's decision to use a squad of home-based players for the tournament and, in doing so, experiment a little. In the absence of European-based forwards Yanagisawa and Naohiro Takahara, Tanaka featured as a second-half substitute in the opening 1-0 loss to Korea DPR and was named in the starting lineup for the following fixture against China.
There it was that he made his mark. China started strongly and an inexperienced Japan side went in at the interval two goals down. After Teruyuki Moniwa had pulled a goal back, Tanaka picked the perfect moment to claim his first international goal, rocketing a shot into the roof of the net with three minutes left on the clock.
Afterwards Zico said of his new faces: "I think they did a good job given that this was the first time they had played together. They produced a lot of chances, although it would have been better if they had converted more of them." It can only help Tanaka's cause that, of all the new faces, he was the man who found the finishing touch when it mattered.
posted by Kevin at
1:13 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home