Van Marwijk regrets Ono isn't at the World Cup
Saturday, 19 June 2010
 |
| Shinji Ono |
The Dutch manager regrets that
Shinji Ono is not part of the Japanese squad for the
World Cup. The Japanese midfielder didn't get selected
for the tournament by the Japanese manager Takeshi Okada.
"I worked with him for a few years at Feyenoord,"
Van Marwijk said when a Japanese journalist asked him
about the player. "He's a fantastic player and
a great person."
Someone Van Marwijk might not necessarily
think that about is Japan's manager Takeshi Okada, who
took a little revenge yesterday for an incident earlier
in the season.
Van Marwijk had not recognized
Okada during the draw for this World Cup in December
and Okada had felt insulted about that. Yesterday during
the Japanese press conference Okada thus pretended not
to know Van Marwijk, and said he thought the name of
the Dutch coach was "Van Dijk".
"It was a regrettable thing,"
Van Marwijk said. "I had only met him once for
about two or three seconds. And I never saw him after
that. It has nothing to do with disrespect."
Van Marwijk will lead the Netherlands
today when they take on Japan for their second Group
E game in Durban. Holland won the first game against
Denmark
2-0. Japan beat Cameroon 1-0.
***
Holland
and Japan head-to-head.
|
