Japan beats New Zealand 3-0
This victory was, of all the things, most relieving for the Japanese fans. We were scratching our heads trying to figure out how this team managed to get so much worse in so little time. This game showed us that Nakamura and Nakata ARE a class above the rest, can control the game, and score when they need to. It gave a glimpse of hope that Zico just might be able to motivate these players enough to take the team somewhere. Considering that they scored only two goals total in their previous three international matches, their comment about wanting more goals (after they scored three in this one) is an encouraging sign that these players are hungry.
