Annual Japan vs Korea Meet
　The annual international friendly match between Japan and the Republic of Korea(South) was held at the Olympic stadium in Tokyo on Sept. 28. The Japanese national side defeated the Koreans by a score of 4-1. The record of the internationals between the two rival countries now stands at 4 wins 7 draws and 16 loss for the Japanese.

　Japanese League re-opens.
　The Japanese Soccer League celebrated Oct. 10, which is the national holiday for sports commemorating the opening day of the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, by holding the opening match of the second half of the league season, Hitachi vs Shin-Nittetsu. The match was played at the Olympic stadium in Tokyo, co-sponsored by the Japanese F.A. and the Japanese Amateur Sports Federation.

　Asian Games in Tehran
　Fifteen countries participated in the football tournament of the Asian Games in Tehran last month. The host country, Iran, won the title, defeating Israel in the final before an enthusiastic and patriotic capacity crowd at the Aryamhr stadium on Sept. 15.
　The football tournament was undoubtedly the most attractive event of the Asian Games, The local public had keenly looked forward to winning the gold medal for football far more than those for the other events.
　Some reports from Tehran suggested that the advantages of playing at home were the main reason for the Iranian victory. They insisted that the scheduling and referees were arranged so as to favor the local team.
　However, considering only the football tournament itself, those reports were not necessarily true. The Iranians were the best among the competing countries in techniques, tactics and spirit. Their victory should be regarded as well-deserved.
　Ryuzo Hiraki, the coach of the Japanese national team, commented: "Only two teams, Iran and Israel, showed any possibility that Asian football will be able to approach the standard of the World Cup in the future. The good, hard football they played set them apart from all other Asian countries. And in my opinion, Iran was superior to Israel."
　Yoshiyuki Maruyama, the international referee from Japan, also reported, "The refereeing was, of course, never biased by national considerations, and the players of all countries demonstrated a sportsman-like spirit. No one could complain about that,''
　Mr. Maruyama had been appointed the referee for the final match but was replaced by an Indian referee just before the night of the match. "I don't know the reason for the change, and frankly speaking, I was not pleased to hear of it" said Maruyama. "But I don't believe that the result was affected by the change in referees".
　The results of the Japanese team were disappointing. It beat the Phillipines by a score of 4-0 and drew with Malaysia 1-1. It lost against Israel by a score of 0-3 in the last match of the first round play-offs and consequently could not advance to the semi-finals.
　Mr. Frank O'Farell, who is the former manager of Manchester United and is now in charge for the Iranian national team, frankly pointed out the shortcomings of Japanese football. "Japanese players adhered to set formations without any of the creative imagination which is now an absolute necessity in modern football. Apart from Kamamoto and Ogi, I could not find any players of international standing in the Japanese side.”

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