Japan national football team

Infobox National football team
Name = Japan
Badge = Japan_national_team.gif
FIFA Trigramme = JPN
Nickname = Nippon Daihyo (日本代表) Okada Japan (岡田ジャパン) [Last name of incumbent head coach followed by "Japan". So previously called such as "Osim Japan(オシムジャパン)", "Zico Japan(ジーコジャパン)", "Troussier Japan(トルシエジャパン)"]
Association = Japan Football Association
Confederation = AFC (Asia)
Coach = flagicon|JPN Takeshi Okada
Captain = Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi
Most caps = Masami Ihara (123)
Top scorer = Kunishige Kamamoto (75) | Home Stadium =
FIFA Rank = 32
1st ranking date = August 1993
FIFA max = 9
FIFA max date = February 1998
FIFA min = 62
FIFA min date = February 2000
Elo Rank = 25
Elo max = 8
Elo max date = August 2001, March 2002
Elo min = 112
Elo min date = September 1962
pattern_la1=_shoulder_stripes_white_stripes|pattern_b1=_jap08h|pattern_ra1=_shoulder_stripes_white_stripes|pattern_sh1=
leftarm1=003999|body1=003999|rightarm1=003999|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=003999
pattern_la2=_shouldersonwhite|pattern_b2=_jap06a|pattern_ra2=_shouldersonwhite|pattern_sh2=
leftarm2=003999|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=003999|shorts2=003999|socks2=FFFFFF

First game = Flagicon|Japan Japan 0 - 5 fb-rt|Republic of China|1912
(Tokyo, Japan; May 9, 1917)
Largest win = Flagicon|Japan Japan 15 - 0 fb-rt|Philippines
(Tokyo, Japan; September 27, 1967)
Largest loss = Flagicon|Japan Japan 2 - 15 fb-rt|Philippines
(Tokyo, Japan; May 10, 1917)
World cup apps = 3
World cup first = 1998
World cup best = Round 2, 2002
Regional name = AFC Asian Cup
Regional cup apps = 6
Regional cup first = 1988
Regional cup best = Winners, 1992, 2000, 2004
Confederations cup apps = 4
Confederations cup first = 1995
Confederations cup best = 2nd, 2001

The Japan national football team is the national football team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association.

On July 21, 2006, Bosnian Ivica Osim, who previously coached Yugoslavia and most recently JEF United Ichihara Chiba, took over as manager, succeeding Zico, who had coached Japan from 2002 through the end of Japan's 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign. Osim fell ill in late 2007 and he was replaced by Takeshi Okada, who had taken Japan to the 1998 World Cup. [cite news
author=
last=
first=
url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=374195
title= Osim unveiled as new coach of Japan
publisher=Reuters
date=2006-07-21
accessdate=2006-07-21]

The team is commonly known by the fans and media as "Nippon Daihyo" (日本代表 "Japanese representatives"), "Daihyo" (代表 "representatives"). Although the team does not have an official nickname, it is often known by the name of the manager. For example, under Ivica Osim, the team is known as Osim Japan. Recently the team has been known or nicknamed as the Blue Samurai.

Japan has qualified for the last three consecutive World Cup finals and is a three-time Asian Cup trophy winner.

History

Football kit box
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title =
Japan's former kit

Japan's first major achievement in international football came in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, where the team won the bronze medal. Although this result earned the sport increased recognition in Japan, the absence of a professional domestic league hindered its growth and Japan would not qualify for the FIFA World Cup until 30 years later. [cite web
url = http://www.wldcup.com/Asia/jleague/history.html
title = History of the J. League
accessdate = 2006-07-07
accessmonthday =
accessyear =
author =
last = Matsushima
first = Ken
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year =
month =
format =
work =
publisher = Rising Sun News
pages =
language =
archiveurl =
archivedate =]

In 1991, the owners of the semi-professional Japan Soccer League agreed to disband the league and re-form as the professional J. League, partly to raise the sport's profile and to strengthen the national team program. With the launch of the new league in 1993, interest in football and the national team grew.

However, in its first attempt to qualify with professional players, Japan narrowly missed a ticket to the 1994 FIFA World Cup after failing to beat Iraq in the final match of the qualification round, remembered by fans as the Agony of Doha.

The nation's first FIFA World Cup appearance was in 1998, where they lost all three matches. Japan's first two fixtures went 1-0 in favor of Argentina and Croatia, despite playing well in both games. Their campaign ended with an unexpected 2-1 defeat to rank outsiders Jamaica.

Four years later, Japan co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with South Korea. Despite being held to a 2-2 draw by Belgium in their opening game, the Japanese team advanced to the second round with a 1-0 win over Russia and a 2-0 victory against Tunisia. However, they subsequently exited the tournament during the Round of 16, after losing 1-0 to eventual third-place finishers Turkey.

On June 8, 2005, Japan qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, its third consecutive World Cup, by beating North Korea 2-0 in Bangkok, Thailand. However, Japan failed to advance to the Round of 16 after finishing group play without a win, losing to Australia 1-3, drawing Croatia 0-0 and losing to Brazil 1-4.

Japan has had considerably more success in the Asian Cup, taking home the winner's trophy in three of the last four finals, in 1992, 2000 and 2004. Their principal continental rivals are South Korea, followed by Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Japan is the only team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América, being invited in 1999, along with Mexico.

In August 2006, incoming head coach Ivica Osim gave the captaincy to Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, as he felt that the extra responsibilities detracted from former captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto's contributions to his club team.

Competition Records

FIFA World Cup Record

col-2

:"*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks."col-2

* The players in bold typeface are still active in football.

Kits

Japan's home dress does not match its national flag as it consists of a blue jersey, white shorts, and blue socks. The away kit consists of a white jersey, blue shorts, and white socks. However, Japan formerly wore white and red which matched its national flag.

chedule and recent results

Matches under Takeshi Okada , as well as any future scheduled matches.

;Midfielders

;Forwards

Former players

* Masahiro Fukuda
* Hiromi Hara
* Kenta Hasegawa
* Tetsuji Hashiratani
* Masami Ihara
* Kunishige Kamamoto
* Nobutoshi Kaneda
* Saburo Kawabuchi
* Yahiro Kazama
* Kazushi Kimura
* Wagner Lopes
* Takashi Mizunuma
* Yasutaro Matsuki
* Shigetatsu Matsunaga
* Kazuyoshi Miura
* Hiroaki Morishima
* Yoshikazu Nagai
* Hidetoshi Nakata
* Masashi Nakayama
* Alessandro dos Santos
* Yasuhiko Okudera
* Norio Omura
* Ruy Ramos
* Ryuichi Sugiyama
* Takuya Takagi
* Nobuhiro Takeda
* Satoshi Tsunami
* Motohiro Yamaguchi
* Kenzo Yokoyama
* George Yonashiro

World Cup Rosters

Asian Cup Rosters

* Asian Cup 1988 (Qatar)
* Asian Cup 1992 (Japan)
* Asian Cup 1996 (United Arab Emirates)
* Asian Cup 2000 (Lebanon)
* Asian Cup 2004 (China)
* Asian Cup 2007 (Indonesia/Malaysia/Thailand/Vietnam)

Confederations Cup Rosters

* 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup
* 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup
* 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup

ummer Olympics Rosters

* 1936 Olympics (Berlin)
* 1956 Olympics (Melbourne)
* 1964 Olympics (Tokyo)
* 1968 Olympics (Mexico City)
* 1996 Olympics (Atlanta)
* 2000 Olympics (Sydney)
* 2004 Olympics (Athens)
* 2008 Olympics (Beijing)

Licensing for Video Games

The Japanese national team is currently licensed only for portrayal in video games by Konami (for example, Winning Eleven), and thus does not appear in the FIFA series of football videogames made by EA, or SEGA/Sports Interactive's Football Manager games (although the Japanese national team has been featured in FIFA International Soccer until FIFA 2002 and all the FIFA World Cup Games also made by EA).

Youth National Team Records

FIFA U-20 World Cup Record

*1977 - Didn't qualify
*1979 - Round 1
*1981 to 1993 - Didn't qualify
*1995 - Quarter-finals
*1997 - Quarter-finals
*1999 - Runners-up
*2001 - Round 1
*2003 - Quarter-finals
*2005 - Round of 16
*2007 - Round of 16

FIFA U-17 World Cup Record

*1985 to 1991 - Didn't qualify
*1993 - Quarter-finals
*1995 - Round 1
*1997 - Didn't qualify
*1999 - Didn't qualify
*2001 - Round 1
*2003 - Didn't qualify
*2005 - Didn't qualify
*2007 - Round 1

AFC Youth Championship Record

*1992 : Third Place
*1994 : Second Place
*1996 : Fourth Place
*1998 : Second Place
*2000 : Second Place
*2002 : Second Place
*2004 : Third Place
*2006 : Second Place
*2008 : Qualified

AFC U-17 Championship Record

*1986 : Didn't qualify
*1988 : Round 1
*1990 : Didn't qualify
*1992 : Didn't qualify
*1994 : Champions
*1996 : Fourth Place
*1998 : Round 1
*2000 : Third Place
*2002 : Round 1
*2004 : Round 1
*2006 : Champions
*2008 : Qualified

ee also

*Football in Japan
*List of Japanese footballers with foreign heritage
*List of Japanese footballers in European clubs

References

External links

* [http://www.jfa.or.jp/ Japan Football Association national teams] ja icon
* [http://www.jfa.or.jp/eng/ Japan Football Association national teams] en icon
* [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesj/jap-intres.html RSSSF archive of national team results]
* [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/jap-recintlp.html RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers]
* [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/team/overview.html?team=JPN Japan team page at official 2006 FIFA World Cup site]
* [http://2002.fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/02/en/t/t/jpn.html Japan team page at official 2002 FIFA World Cup site]
* [http://www.wldcup.com/Asia/nats/index.html Rising Sun News: Japan NT history and news]