Asian Cup 2011

Asian Cup 2011: Time To Undo The Agony Of Doha – Japan Goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima

28-Jan-2011 12:38:00 PM

By Rahul Bali

More On : Japan, Eiji Kawashima

AFC Asian Cup Semi Final - Japan v South Korea,Eiji Kawashima and Daiki Iwamasa(Getty Images)

The Agony of Doha is still fresh in the memories of the Japanese fans when they missed out on a place in the 1994 World Cup finals after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Iraq at the Al Ahli Stadium which allowed their rivals South Korea to book a berth as one of the two Asian nations at the biggest football extravaganza on the planet.

With the Samurai Blue training primarily at the same stadium where the tragedy happened close to two decades back, the team is looking to undo the voodoo this time around.

“At that time, I was student of the elementary school. But I remember that moment very clearly. Also today, we are talking about it. It is a good experience that we can come here and feel the atmosphere what Japanese history was and then be excited of what we can do history in the next match,” said Eiji Kawashima, the hero from the semi-finals against South Korea.

The Japanese number one stated that the positive messages from their homeland motivate the team to perform better and deliver on the pitch thereafter.

“Yeah (messages received), it was more than the World Cup. We really get energy from the messages from Japan and we, the Japanese national team, can play with this energy from Japan,” he said.

Following his excellent performance under the bar especially during the penalty-kicks, the custodian was asked whether he would prefer winning the finals in normal time or penalties, he highlighted the importance of being determined to win.

“I hope so. But you in a match we always have to fight with our strong hearts. So yeah, we will try,” said Kawashima.

The absence of in-form Shinji Kagawa would certainly come to hurt the Japanese but Kawashima focused on it being an opportunity for another player to come in the side and do the job for them.

“Kagawa is a very important player for the team but the Asian cup is important to play not only for the players who play in Europe. Now we are playing 11 players and are a unit. We have to fight with all the players. So we just wanna concentrate with the players who can now,” said the 27 year old.

Kawashima was respectful towards the Australians but added that the Japanese need to focus on their own game rather than play according to the opposition’s strong areas.

“They have really experienced players. Some of their players play in Europe and have play very good. But we also have strong points (with one of them being) we are a young team. We like to play with our strong points. This is really good challenge for us. But we don’t need care of things that we don’t need to think,” said the Lierse player.

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