Group E
Manager: Takeshi Okada
Star Player : Shunsuke Nakamura
Number of Previous World Cup Appearances: 3
Best result: 2nd round (2002)
All-time record: 10 games played, 2 wins, 2 draws, 6 losses
Goals for: 8, Goals against: 14
Biggest victory: 2-0 vs. Tunisia in 2002
Biggest defeat: 4-1 vs. Brazil in 2006
Top scorer: Junichi Inamoto (2 goals)
Most appearances: Hidetoshi Nakata (10 matches)
Hosted the World Cup: 2002
LIVE STREAM JAPAN MATCHES :
June 14, 2010 @ 14:00GMT Group Stage Group E
Japan vs Cameroon
at Free State Stadium
June 19, 2010 @ 11:30GMT Group Stage Group E
Netherlands vs Japan
at Moses Mabhida Stadium
June 24, 2010 @ 18:30GMT Group Stage Group E
Denmark vs Japan
at Royal Bafokeng Stadium
Short Team History JAPAN:
FIFA member since: 1929
Team nickname: Nippon Daihyo
All-time caps leader: Masami Ihara (123)
All-time leading scorer: Kunishige Kamamoto (75 goals)
Notable achievements: Asian Cup Champions (1992, 2000, 2004)
Legendary Player: Kunishige Kamamoto helped Japan win the bronze medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, finishing as the tournament's top scorer with seven goals. He scored a record 73 goals in 75 international matches for Japan.
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- Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi Goalkeeper 1.79m 75 kg August 15, 1975
- Eiji Kawashima Goalkeeper 1.85m 78 kg March 20, 1983
- Seigo Narazaki Goalkeeper 1.85m 76 kg April 15, 1976
- Daiki Iwamasa Defender 1.86m 82 kg January 30, 1982
- Yuichi Komano Defender 1.71m 71 kg July 25, 1981
- Yasuyuki Konno Defender 1.78m 73 kg January 25, 1983
- Yuto Nagatomo Defender 1.70m 65 kg September 12, 1986
- Yuji Nakazawa Defender 1.87m 78 kg February 25, 1978
- Marcus Tulio Tanaka Defender 1.85m 82 kg April 24, 1981
- Atsuto Uchida Defender 1.76m 62 kg March 27, 1988
- Yuki Abe Midfielder 1.78m 75 kg September 6, 1981
- Yasuhito Endo Midfielder 1.77m 70 kg January 28, 1980
- Makoto Hasebe Midfielder 1.77m 65 kg January 18, 1984
- Keisuke Honda Midfielder 1.81m 74 kg June 13, 1986
- Junichi Inamoto Midfielder 1.81m 75 kg September 18, 1979
- Daisuke Matsui Midfielder 1.70m 58 kg May 11, 1981
- Kengo Nakamura Midfielder 1.75m 66 kg October 31, 1980
- Shunsuke Nakamura Midfielder 1.78m 69 kg June 24, 1978
- Takayuki Morimoto Forward 1.80m 70 kg May 7, 1988
- Shinji Okazaki Forward 1.73m 70 kg April 16, 1986
- Yoshito Okubo Forward 1.68m 61 kg June 9, 1982
- Keiji Tamada Forward 1.73m 67 kg April 11, 1980
- Kisho Yano Forward 1.85m 74 kg April 5, 1985
Want to Know More About JAPAN !! Carry on :
Appearances at finals:1998 - First round
2002 - Second round
2006 - First round
Overall record at finals: Played 10, Won 2, Drawn 2, Lost 6.
Best performance: Second round in 2002.
Most appearances at finals: Hidetoshi Nakata (1998, 2002, 2006) - 10.
Most goals at finals: Junichi Inamoto (2002) - 2.
World Cup high: Junichi Inamoto's goal to fire Japan to a 1-0 victory over Russia in front of over 60,000 fans in their home tournament in 2002.
World Cup low: Crashing out at the hands of Turkey in the second round in 2002 while rivals and co-hosts South Korea went on to make the semi-finals.
World Cup legend: Hidetoshi Nakata played in every match for Japan at their first three World Cups and the iconic midfielder helped bring Japanese football onto the world stage.
The story so far: Japanese football underwent a renaissance in the early 90s with the launch of the professional J-League, and the national team came within one minute of qualifying for USA 1994. Despite that disappointment, Japanese football improved markedly on the back of the new league and Japan has competed in every World Cup finals since as a true powerhouse of the Asian confederation.
Wedged between first round exits in 1998 and 2006 came Japan's best result, a second round appearance on home soil as part of the 2002 tournament joint-hosted with South Korea.
Qualification: After coach Ivica Osim suffered a stroke in late 2007, the Japanese FA handed the reins to Takeshi Okada, the man who guided the team through France 1998. A more mature Okada led Japan to a fairly straightforward qualification, although he came in for criticism at times from an increasingly demanding Japanese media for the team's lack of goals. Being grouped with Australia in the final stage helped Japan, given the other three teams struggled to pick up points.
Qualifying record (final group stage): P8, W4, D3, L1, F11, A6, Pts15.
Most appearances: Marcus Tulio Tanaka (8).
Top goalscorer: Keiji Tamada, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Shunsuke Nakamura (2).
TEAM PROFILE JAPAN:
Boasting one of the strongest squads in Asian football, Japan, winners of three of the last five editions of the AFC Asian Cup, have high hopes for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ - their fourth appearance at the global showpiece.
First on the agenda is an improvement on the disappointing showing at Germany 2006, when the Samurai Blue exited at the first hurdle after a 3-1 reverse against Australia, a 0-0 draw with Croatia and a resounding 4-1 defeat by Brazil. Japan will also be facing their first finals without iconic midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata. The former Roma schemer featured in each of the national side's games at France 1998, Korea/Japan 2002 and Germany 2006 before hanging up his boots after the latter event aged just 29.
The road to South Africa
Having comfortably reached the fourth and final stage of Asian Zone qualifying for South Africa 2010, Japan won four, drew three and lost just one of their eight matches in Group 1. A 2-1 reverse in Australia and a frustrating 0-0 at home against the same opponents were the lowlights of this final phase, though coach Takeshi Okada's charges still finished well clear of Bahrain, Qatar and Uzbekistan in the five-team section.
The star players
Japan's biggest star is former Celtic playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura, who in the summer 2009 made the switch from Glasgow to La Liga with Espanyol. Another European-based performer is young midfielder Keisuke Honda, at Eredivisie outfit VVV Venlo and like Nakamura a gifted left-footer. Leading from the back is 31-year-old defensive rock and captain Yuji Nakazawa, who with over 90 senior caps to his name is Japan's third-most capped player of all time.
The coach
National supremo Okada is widely considered to be one of the finest Japanese strategists around. He was at the helm during the Samurai Blue's first FIFA World Cup appearance at France 1998, having successfully negotiated a tricky play-off meeting with Iran, and later enjoyed spells at club level with Consadole Sapporo and Yokohama F Marinos.
The 53-year-old former international defender's time in Sapporo included taking the team from the second division into the top flight, while the tactician led Marinos to successive J.League titles in 2003 and 2004. Having stepped away from his role in Yokohama in 2006, he picked up the reins of the national team for a second time a year later - following the stroke suffered by previous incumbent Ivica Osim.
Previous FIFA World Cups
South Africa 2010 will be Japan's fourth FIFA World Cup finals, and their fourth in a row. Their best finish came as hosts at Korea/Japan 2002, when they topped Group H ahead of Belgium, Russia and Tunisia to advance to the knockout stages for the first and so far only time. Once in the Round of 16 they put in a brave fight only to go down 1-0 against eventual third-place finishers Turkey, the goal coming after 12 minutes from Umit Davala.
Records
* At his first finals as Japan coach, back at France 1998, Okada's charges lost each of their three group games, scoring once and conceding four times in the process.
* Masashi Nakayama scored Japan's first ever FIFA World Cup finals goal, netting in the 74th minute of the 2-1 reverse against Jamaicaon French soil.
What they said
"We are not going to change our tactics because when I set this team's basic tactical approach, it was already done with a view to winning against the world's biggest teams. Our main target in South Africa is to reach the semi-finals." Japan coach Takeshi Okada
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