Japan World Cup Team Profile

May 10th, 2010 | by: chris | View Comments

It’s awfully hard to tell which way this will go, but today, Monday May 10th, Japan became one of two teams to release their full World Cup squad of 23, along with New Zealand. It could mean that they’ll be well and gelled by the time the tournament commences. Or it could mean that their campaign, like their squad, is destined for prematurity, which obviously isn’t good.

The latter would be course for extraordinary disappointment, at least in-house. Or in one house. Coach Takeshi Okada has made waves by placing perhaps the highest relative expectations upon his team at the World Cup: semifinals or bust. It’s worth a double-take surely, because a Japanese semifinal berth would likely be considered nothing short of a major upset, particularly from a tough group.

But where’s the fun in aiming low?


Nickname: Samurai Blue, or Nippon Daihyo

FIFA World Ranking as of April 28th 2010: 45th

Group E Matches:
Japan v Cameroon, June 14th, 4p,Bloemfontein
Netherlands v Japan, June 19th, 1:30p, Durban
Denmark v Japan, June 24th, 8:30p, Rustenburg
Buy Japan World Cup tickets here.

Kit: The standard samurai blue with white shorts.

More on the Japanese kit here.

Coach: Takeshi Okada, the man whose dreams know no bounds, is in his second stint as head man atop the Japanese coaching pyramid. He took the squad to France in ‘98, where the won precisely zero points and finished 31st out of 32 teams. He’ll be hoping this time is an improvement.

The fans will too, because Okada isn’t exactly the most popular man in Japan. He has his own methods, some might say stubborn methods, and the team, which by Asian standards is quite good, doesn’t inspire great confidence, and Okada will likely step down or find himself unemployed after the World Cup.

Unless, of course, they shock the world/meet expectations.

Key Players: Their clear strength is in midfield, where they boast some of Asia’s best player. Complete mid Yasuhito Endo is Asia’s best player, at least he was in 2009, when he earned the title. Shunsuke Nakamura, perhaps the most widely known over the world from his time in Europe, is another high quality mid with a gorgeous free kick swing, much like Endo. Junichi Inamoto, once the baby-faced media darling, like Nakamura went back home for the J. League season and will see some time in central midfield along with Makato Hasebe. Despite all these “names”, at least in Japan, the biggest of them all is the young gun with the left foot from the gods, Keisuke Honda, who will be put somewhere, anywhere with the hopes of scoring goals from midfield.

In front, trying to make goals from midfield just an added bonus, there will be a story of two youngsters: Shinji Okazaki and Takayuki Morimoto. The former is a 24 yo with 15 goals in 2009, a lovely tally, but the latter is Japan’s great hope. For a few years Morimoto has been Japan’s golden boy, considered by many to be one of the most talented forwards in all the world. However, he’s only had 3 caps and is still new to international football, even if he plays in southern Italy. And despite the youth movement, Keiji Tamada still has a stronghold atop the formation.

The back is led by Tulio Tanaka, something of a libero, will partner centrally with captain and old horse Yuji Nakazawa. On the right and left will be the two young and gifted fullbacks, Atsuto Uchiba and Yuto Nagatomo. Despite the surprise callback of former No. 1 Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Seigo Narazaki will get the gloves in South Africa.

Player with best YouTube video: Midfield dynamo Keisuke Honda doing strange things while showing off his equally abnormal football skills.

Player with best name: Obviously the Japanese-Brazilian hybrid Marcus Túlio Lyuji Murzani Tanaka.

Or just Tulio. But I like M.T.L.M.T. Who’s got a good mnemonic device?

Player with best nickname: It could’ve been for Keisuke himself, or perhaps just for his left foot, but in the Netherlands, Honda earned Keizer Keisuke – Emperor Keisuke.

I trust it doesn’t get much better, even if the alliteration made it necessary.

Qualification: They lost/drew some games they probably should’ve won, but ultimately they settled comfortably into second place in their second group and qualified easily with only two losses through out – Thailand and Australia.

Interesting: Only 4 on the squad ply their trade outside of the J. League – before the World Cup, that is – and they only combine for a total of 65 caps; 7 teammates have more alone.

National Anthem: “Kimigayo”

World Cup History:

Expectations: It’s not the semifinals, that much is assured. In games against World Cup 2010 competition since qualifying ended, in friendlies and the East Asian Championships, they’ve gone 1-1-4, 5, 12, -7. Getting out of the groups will be considered a success.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale), Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata)

Defenders: Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama Marinos), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Nagoya Grampus), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata), Daiki Iwamasa (Kashima Antlers), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers)

Midfielders: Shunsuke Nakamura (Yokohama Marinos), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Junichi Inamoto (Kawasaki Frontale), Yuki Abe (Urawa Red Diamonds), Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg/Germany), Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow/Russia), Daisuke Matsui (Grenoble/France)

Forwards: Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse), Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus), Yasuhito Okubo (Vissel Kobe), Kisho Yano (Albirex Niigata), Takayuki Morimoto (Catania/Italy)

Blog: Aidan runs the ship at the Japan World Cup Blog.

- More World Cup 2010 Team Profiles.