Japan NT no go for Juninho

Juninho's hopes of playing for the Japanese national team appear to have been scuppered - http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sw20080927a1.html.

It seems the language requirements for Japanese citizenship were too rigorous for the 31-year-old Brazilian. Allegedly things got off to a bad start when he didn't understand the question asking for his date of birth.

However, it has also emerged that even if he were to brush up on his nihongo, FIFA regulations would still bar him from playing for Japan as he's previously represented his native Brazil at Under-20 level.

Taniguchi books a place at Beijing

Frontale midfielder Hiroyuki Taniguchi has been named among the 18 players who will represent Japan at the Beijing Olympics in August.

His inclusion may come as a surprise to some, especially with the likes of Celtic's Koki Mizuno and Urawa's Tsukasa Umesaki being left out of the side. However, coach Yasuharu Sorimachi has emphasised the importance of tenacity and undying commitment in his young Olympians - and in these areas there is no questioning Taniguchi's prowess.

Out, but not down

So Frontale are out of the Nabisco Cup. Two losses from their last three games saw them finish Group C in a fairly underwhelming 3rd spot. Instead, it's J.League strugglers JEF United who go through to the quarter finals.

	Team	Pts	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	JEF United	12	6	3	3	0	9	5	4
2	Kashiwa Reysol	9	6	2	3	1	9	7	2
3	Kawasaki Frontale	6	6	2	0	4	9	10	-1
4	Consadole Sapporo	5	6	1	2	3	4	9	-5

But it's not all doom and gloom. First of all, it's important to note that for these last few games the spine of the team has been away on international duty. Would qualification have been more likely with Kengo, Chong Tese, Igawa, Terada and Kawashima in the mix? Possibly.

More importantly, however, these latest Nabisco Cup games have seen the return to form of striker Kazuki Ganaha. Not wanting to tempt fate, but this could be very significant to the rest of Frontale's 2008 J.League campaign.

Mid-season break

The J.League season is on a break til August. During this time the following Kawasaki Frontale players will be representing Japan in the 2007 Asian Cup - Kengo Nakamura and Eiji Kawashima.

Japan's first game in the Asian Cup is against Qatar on Monday, 9th July.

They then face the United Arab Emirates (13th July) and Vietnam (16th July) in their remaining group stage games.

Domestically, of course, there's still the excitement of the Nabisco Cup in July! Kawasaki have a bye to the quarter final stages due to their involvement in the AFC Champions League.