Japan: if we carry on like this...
Japan's star midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata (7) and U.S. defender Frankie Hejduk struggle for the ball during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games men's soccer quarterfinals September 23, 2000.
Photo: Kimimasa Mayama, Reuters
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It is not as if football has no tradition in the land of the rising sun. Yet apart from a largely unnoticed bronze medal at the Olympic Football Tournament in 1968, Japan had no international achievements of merit. An upturn in their fortunes did not come about until the formation of a national professional league, the J-League, in 1993, which culminated in Japan qualifying for the 1998 World Cup Finals in France. But it was here that Japan's biggest weakness came to the fore. The team lacked a goalscorer, a clinical finisher capable of converting the opportunities that were created in no small number. This has been a latent problem ever since the heady days of Kazu Miura in the early 1990s, a problem that has still not been fully resolved even under French coach Philippe Troussier, who has successfully managed Japan since Autumn 1998.
Shinji Ono plays soccer with four-year-old Lebanese soccer fan Amira Abboud after a training session for the Japanese national team in Beirut October 27, 2000.
Photo: Eriko Sugita, Reuters
Japan's Naohiro Takahara (L, back to camera) and Shinji Ono give each other a high five as the team members congratulate each other upon defeating Iraq in their Asian Cup quarterfinal match.
Photo: Eriko Sugita, Reuters
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Troussier has, however, been able to imbue the Japanese national side with the self-confidence they had lacked for many years and which is now bringing them a wave of success. Blessed with excellent technical ability and rich supply of talent, Japan have made people sit up and take notice on several occasions in the last two years. First, they made it all the way to the final of the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria, only to lose out to Spain. Then, the Olympic football tournament appeared to be going the way of Japan, until they conceded an equaliser against the Americans in the very last minute of the quarter-final, and Nakata's miss in the penalty shoot-out meant they had to take an unexpected early flight home.
The regulars from these two tournaments then went on to form the majority of Japan's "A" team that in the Lebanon won the Asian Cup for the second time one month after the Olympics, having previously won it in 1992. In addition to AS Rome's Hidetoshi Nakata, the undisputed star in the team, the squad is brimming with talent. Naohiro Takahara, a virtually unstoppable striker, is not yet 22, and captain Ryuzo Morioka, at 25, is almost one of the old guard. Another superb player is the 27-year-old midfielder Hiroshi Nanami, who returned to Japan after a disappointing season at Italian club Venezia that ended in relegation, and was elected Player of the Tournament in the Lebanon. For Philippe Troussier and Japan, acclaimed by the AFC publication Sport Asia as "arguably the finest [team] the continent has ever boasted", last year was just one leg on their journey to the top. The FIFA Confederations Cup could be the next.
| N° |
Pos |
Popular Name |
Shirt Name |
Club |
D.O.B. |
| [ 1] |
GK |
KAWAGUCHI Yoshikatsu |
KAWAGUCHI |
Yokohama Marinos |
15-Aug-75 |
| [ 2] |
DF |
UEMURA Kenichi |
UEMARA |
Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
22-Apr-74 |
| [ 3] |
DF |
MATSUDA Naoki |
MATSUDA |
Yokohama Marinos |
14-Mar-77 |
| [ 4] |
DF |
MORIOKA Ryuzo |
MORIOKA |
Shimizu S-Pulse |
07-Oct-75 |
| [ 5] |
MF |
INAMOTO Junichi |
INAMOTO |
Gamba Osaka |
18-Sep-79 |
| [ 6] |
DF |
HATTORI Toshihiro |
HATTORI |
Jubilo Iwata |
23-Sep-73 |
| [ 7] |
MF |
NAKATA Hidetoshi |
NAKATA |
AS Rome (ITA) |
22-Jan-77 |
| [ 8] |
MF |
MORISHIMA Hiroaki |
MORISHIMA |
Cerezo Osaka |
30-Apr-72 |
| [ 9] |
FW |
NISHIZAWA Akinori |
NISHIZAWA |
Espanyol Barcelona (ESP) |
18-Jun-76 |
| [10] |
MF |
MIURA Atsuhiro |
MIURA |
Tokyo Verdy 1969 |
24-Jul-74 |
| [11] |
FW |
NAKAYAMA Masashi |
NAKAYAMA |
Jubilo Iwata |
23-Sep-67 |
| [12] |
GK |
NARAZAKI Seigo |
NARAZAKI |
Nagoya Grampus Eight |
15-Apr-76 |
| [13] |
FW |
YAMASHITA Yoshiteru |
YAMASHITA |
Avispa Fukuoka |
21-Nov-77 |
| [14] |
MF |
ITO Teruyoshi |
ITO |
Shimizu S-Pulse |
31-Aug-74 |
| [15] |
MF |
FUJITA Toshiya |
FUJITA |
Jubilo Iwata |
04-Oct-71 |
| [16] |
DF |
NAKATA Koji |
K. NAKATA |
Kashima Antlers |
09-Jul-79 |
| [17] |
MF |
MYOJIN Tomokazu |
MYOJIN |
Kashiwa Reysol |
24-Jan-78 |
| [18] |
MF |
TODA Kazuyuki |
TODA |
Shimizu S-Pulse |
30-Dec-77 |
| [19] |
FW |
KUBO Tatsuhiko |
KUBO |
Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
18-Jun-76 |
| [20] |
DF |
HATO Yasuhiro |
HATO |
Yokohama Marinos |
04-May-76 |
| [21] |
MF |
ONO Shinji |
ONO |
Urawa Reds |
27-Sep-79 |
| [22] |
FW |
SUZUKI Takayuki |
SUZUKI |
Kashima Antlers |
05-Jun-76 |
| [23] |
GK |
TSUZUKI Ryota |
TSUZUKI |
Gamba Osaka |
18-Apr-78 |
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