England 0-1 Japan
by Layth Yousif 
at Wembley Stadium

A CLINICALLY taken first-half strike by Brighton attacker Kaoru Mitoma was enough to beat Thomas Tuchel’s disjointed England team, on a pitiful evening at the national stadium once again disfigured by the further booing of Ben White.

The Samurai Blue decapitated the Three Lions with an impressively lively display that made Tuchel’s side look as uninspiringly dour and leaden as the embarrassing, grudge-filled hate aimed at White, sounded.

While captain and talisman Harry Kane was absent through minor injury as England failed to score for the first time in 11 matches, the stand-ins for the Bayern Munich striker failed to impress on another miserable evening in north-west London.

“This camp will not define us,” Tuchel insisted after the match, but the incoherent performance from his team has raised huge question marks over the German head coach’s World Cup squad for the summer.

Japan took the lead in some style when Albion’s Mitoma robbed a lacklustre Cole Palmer, before driving forward to launch a sweeping move. As the visitors swarmed forward, a well-timed ball into the box came from Ligue 2 Reims’ attacker Keito Nakamura.

Latching onto the ball without breaking strike Mitoma slotted home with composure, low past Jordan Pickford on 23 minutes, to seal a thoroughly deserved victory for Hajime Moriyasu’s side — as the impressively large contingent of Japanese fans celebrated in jolly fashion.

Around 8,000 Japan fans jumped for joy, the majority clad in the blue of their shirts, many holding their Hinomaru (“circle of the sun”) national flags. It should also be noted that the visitors in the stands also took time after the final whistle to clear up rubbish in the away section.

It was certainly a lesson in how to support your football team, as sadly, once again, a section of England fans opted to boo White, before, and after the match.

The big news from the squad before kick-off was that England captain was rested as a precaution “having picked up a minor issue in training.” Ever the team man, Kane stayed with his teammates.

One hoped that the Bayern and Three Lions leader would not receive any of the criticism and abuse aimed at all the Arsenal players over the last week for pulling out of international duty with injury — after the Gunners’ Three Lions’ Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka joined Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham and John Stones in pulling out of Tuchel’s squad with injury.

Former Cray Wanderers youth team player via Selhurst Park to Manchester City, Marc Guehi captained the side in Kane’s absence. A thoroughly deserved bauble for what this observer insists was England’s best player during their run to the Euro 2024 final in Berlin.

The 25-year-old Guehi lined up alongside Ezri Konsa at the heart of the backline, in what was surely a blow to Harry Maguire’s hopes of starting in North America this summer.

Guehi’s City colleague Phil Foden, having recovered from the potentially season-ending scythe by Uruguay’s during the tepid 1-1 draw against Marcelo Bielsa’s La Celeste on Friday kept his place in the starting XI, while substitute Palmer made the line-up. Both were deeply disappointing.

Serious questions must be asked about the form of Palmer, who filled the No 10 role, but struggled badly to make an impact. While there was no impression from the equally ineffective Foden, who, it must be said, failed dismally over the last two matches.

When asked about the performances of Palmer and Foden, after the match Tuchel said: “I’m not the biggest person to talk about individuals, but if we put offensive players on the pitch, we demand offensive actions, creativity, dribbling, shots and assists and we clearly didn’t have enough.”

Given his travails under former Manchester United Ruben Amorim, it was good to see talented young Kobbie Mainoo make his first start for Tuchel, alongside Elliot Anderson, even if the former was only keeping the influential Rice’s place warm for him before the tournament.

Yet it was the heckling of White that caught the attention. White, who was booed when he came on as a substitute for England on Friday, and again, extraordinarily when he scored, was once again booed at Wembley on Tuesday evening.

First, when his name was read out during the pre-match warm-up, and again just before kick-off. He was also jeered when Tuchel removed him just before the hour mark.

It was also instructive to note a cheer went up from behind the goal at Wembley after a paper aeroplane landed near the pitch. With the bizarre thought arising that a section of England fans would rather cheer a folded-up bit of A4 paper than White.

Eleven minutes after Mitoma’s goal, Anderson clipped the woodwork, after the midfielder picked the ball up on the edge of the box, before whipping his shot towards the far corner, but it grazed the top of the bar.

Three minutes before the break, Feyenoord forward Ayase Ueda struck the bar, as an impressive Japan aimed to double their lead. As the half-time whistle blew a smattering of boos rang out at Wembley. Unsurprising, as there was a lot of it about.

Six minutes after the break Pickford blocked from Ritsu Doan, who flicked the ball over the head of Nico O’Reilly, as the 27-year-old Eintracht Frankfurt attacker tested the Everton keeper, who proved equal to the task at his near post.

More boos were aimed towards White from a section of England fans when the Arsenal player was replaced by Tino Livramento just before the hour mark, as Tuchel made a number of substitutions in a futile bid to freshen up his side’s performance.

Tellingly, England captain for the night Guehi admitted after the match: “It’s not easy putting the shirt on.” The thought arising that it certainly isn’t. Especially when a section of the home support take great pride in booing one of their own players.

However, huge credit must be given to Japan as Moriyasu’s side greatly impressed. Which should hardly have come as a surprise for a team who breezed through their qualifying fixtures, netting a whopping 54 goals, and conceding only three.

They moved the ball fluently, while their movement on and off the ball was excellent. They got behind the England back line at times, and harried and pressed as a unit so well. Their World Cup group opponents, Tunisia and the Netherlands — as well as Sweden who edged past Poland 3-2 in the play-offs on the night — should be very wary come June.

Moriyasu’s Japan came into the match ranked 18th in the world — 14 places below Tuchel’s side — but on the back of a four-match winning run, including coming back from two goals down to post an impressive 3-2 win over Brazil last October. Not to mention easing past World Cup qualifiers Scotland 2-0 at Hampden Park at the weekend.

Following two defeats and a draw in three previous meetings dating back to 1995, Japan were finally able to savour a well-deserved triumph over England on a night to remember for Moriyasu, and his sprightly side.

“We had some great fighters today,” Moriyasu said after the match, adding: “I’m happy that we were able to win, but we still have a long way to go. We have to be even stronger.

“The win gives us confidence ahead of the World Cup.

“We managed to win today, but we must not forget that it wasn’t an easy game for us,” concluded the modest Moriyasu, the only boss in the history of Japanese football that has managed more than 100 international games for the Samurai Blue, as Japan look to make an impact at this summer’s global tournament, after bowing out at the last 16 in four of the last six editions.

With the official attendance announced as 79,233, thoughts turned back to the unsavoury booing of White. It did make this correspondent ponder whether it can be classed as “great support.” Surely not, if a section of fans take great pride in booing one of their own players.

And that is coming from someone who has watched England at Wembley, as well as up and down the country for more than four decades, not to mention this summer’s diminishingly attractive global jamboree set to be my tenth international tournament across the globe, including, it must be mentioned, a hugely enjoyable month spent in Japan during the 2002 World Cup.

All of which meant during this strange week, that Arsenal players have been criticised for not playing for England. Yet, also booed, for playing for England. Go figure, as they say in North America.

Speaking after the match, Tuchel reflected, saying: “Playing for England comes with pressure, it comes with noise, that is just how it is.

“We need to see how the players adapt to that and we can only see it if we try it, so we tried it and we have to learn from it.

“We have two months now to get it out of our system. The players will play a lot of football and then we will be ready.”

Decisions, decisions for Tuchel, for his side have just two friendlies to come — against New Zealand and Costa Rica both in Florida in early June — before their opening World Cup group game with Croatia on June 17 in Dallas.

And for a section of England fans who insist on booing one of their own players, they have 78 days to get all that booing out of their system, because, quite frankly, it’s an embarrassment to White, Tuchel and his squad, not to mention the wider watching football world.

As for the refreshingly endearing Japan: good luck to them this summer.