ON THE COUCH:It seems someone lost the pre-match toss before the Japan- Cameroon game, writes JOHN O'SULLIVAN

IT WAS a revelation as shocking as footage of a misplaced pass from his playing days when John Giles revealed to RTÉ’s anchor Darragh Maloney that he wouldn’t be able to educate the viewers on the nuances of Japan coach Takeshi Okada’s selection for their opening World Cup match against Cameroon.

Perhaps Giles had lost the pre-game toss at the Montrose studios to fellow panellist Didi Hamann in determining who would analyse the respective line-ups with the German handed the easier task in terms of player familiarity; one he discharged informatively.

Giles wore a rueful expression as Maloney invited him to “take us through the Japan team,” before confessing: “I don’t really know anything about them. I haven’t seen much of them for four years.”

Still you make your own luck in this game and the former Republic of Ireland and Leeds midfield maestro confessed that outside of Keisuke Honda – they’d been cracking a few jokes about the name previously – he was at something of a loss.

Fast forward 38 minutes into the first half and the ever reliable Honda tucked away the game’s first and only goal. As a brief aside there was something curiously apposite about RTÉ’s one-time Formula One commentator Peter Collins, who had the microphone for this soccer match, screaming about a Honda.

Demonstrating solidarity between midfielders Hamann, who’d obviously done a little homework on the Japanese, rescued his fellow analyst in rewinding to the pre-game banter when Giles beseeched: ‘Didi, how many goals did you say Japan scored in qualification?’ Hamann: “11.” Giles: “In how many matches?” Hamann: “Eight.” Giles: “I’d say it’ll be a low scoring game then. One-nil, maybe, 2-0. Still they (Japan) didn’t concede many so they won’t be easy to beat.” Indeed.

Hamann said beforehand that he thought Japan would win; Giles got the final scoreline right. That’s dovetailing at its best. Eamon who? The relatively relaxed preamble to RTÉ’s second live broadcast from South Africa yesterday was in marked contrast to the pre-game discussion in the build-up to the lunchtime clash between the Netherlands and Demark.

Giles provided a very different and personal thesis into historical Dutch implosion at major tournament finals, drawing on his experiences from his playing and managerial days, of the Dutch as amateurs first, their transition to professionalism, a desire to fight for decent pay and a reluctance to accept the minimum wage. It was a thoughtful insight and far more interesting than simply labelling the Dutch as arrogant or quarrelsome, though that’s exactly where the discussion ended up in trying to quantify just how much of a threat the Netherlands were to themselves.

Hamann has been an excellent signing for the Montrose outfit, dealing in specifics rather than generalisations. He speaks candidly and his analysis is sharp. The boy is destined for greater things than a lunchtime holding role; matches involving Germany notwithstanding.

Waiting at Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium as the Dutch and the Danes took the pitch was the commentary team of Gabriel Egan and Damien Richardson with the former explaining to television viewers that “we have helicopters hovering overhead in the sky.” He may have been upended in the box at that moment.

Predominantly a soccer commentator on radio, Egan is nevertheless no stranger to the medium of television: his ability to straddle the differing demands in style terms is an important quality. So too is an easy relationship with Richardson, each slotting comfortably into specific roles, without any overlap of material. Richardson’s technical observations are concise and specific. Egan speaks in soccer vernacular.

No goals in the first half but Hamann and Giles were unanimous in suggesting that Denmark had defended well, created the more clearcut openings, that the Netherlands were largely disappointing and that Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong should have been dismissed for a two-footed tackle. Things sometimes just don’t pan out the way you think. Two goals later and the boys back in studio were probably wishing they had been less unequivocal at half-time with regard to Denmark’s back four.

A bit like the Dutch though the boys on the panel in Montrose rallied for the second match of the day, setting out their stall (admittedly a little bit threadbare initially), getting their tactics right (go with the underdogs and giving their lack of scoring prowess, plump for a solitary goal) and ultimately being rewarded for some clever build-up play.

It’s all about taking your chances on the box.