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Underdog Japan hoping to suprise US in hockey final
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Underdog Japan hoping to suprise US in hockey final
AFP - Sunday, March 21
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Underdog Japan hoping to suprise US in hockey final
VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - – After knocking off hosts Canada in their men's sledge hockey semi-final, minnows Japan are looking for bigger fish to fry in their clash against the top-rated USA when the two teams play for the Paralympic gold Saturday.
"It's four years summed up in 45 minutes," said Japan coach Kojin Nakakita as he watched his team practice at UBC Thunderbird Arena on Friday. "This is huge. This is it."
With the veteran Japan team on a high after stunning Canada Thursday by a 3-1 margin, Nakakita said he wasn't worried his squad would get complacent against the Americans, the reigning world champions, knowing they have at least a silver medal.
"I'm not satisfied and they are not satisfied. This is the gold (medal) game for all the marbles," he said.
"We can't let them score early and ideally we will score early. They are a young team. It will be fun. The players know now it is fun to win. They never experienced that until (the win over) Canada."
In the small sledge hockey world, Japan and America are well aware of each other's strength and weaknesses.
Having met seven times in the 2009-2010 season, the Americans have won every game, outscoring Japan by a 29-2 margin, including a 6-0 win Tuesday in their Paralympic preliminary round match-up.
Japan goalie Mitsuru Nagase who blocked a couple of shots with his head in the Canada victory, said he didn't know what to expect in the gold medal game against an American team that has yet to surrender a goal in the tournament.
"I've never experienced this. This is all new to me, and I have been playing for 15 years. Usually we are playing for fifth or sixth place."
Veteran American forward Joe Howard, the only player left on the team from the 2002 US gold medal winning squad in Salt Lake City, said he wouldn't have to say much to get his young teammates pumped for the game as they were ready to go.
"We want to win gold and they want to win gold. They have a couple of players who are fast but we have guys who are fast. It will be a battle," said the 42-year-old Massachusetts native following practice Friday.
"It's important (for us to get the first goal) because it puts pressure on the other team to open things up to get a goal. We haven't played from behind (in the tournament) yet, so we don't know what it is like."
American coach Ray Maluta, a seventh-round draft choice of the Boston Bruins in 1974, said he expected the Japanese to play a physical game, just as they did against Canada.
"They will try to play us hard but we can handle that. We have more depth and our speed can match their speed.
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