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Japan national football team

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The Japan national football team is the national football team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association. It is currently the third ranked Asian (AFC) national team in the official FIFA World Rankings at 49th. The team is commonly known by the fans and media as Nihon 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 the most recent manager Zico, it was known as . The slogan for 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign was "Samurai Blue".

JFA president Saburo Kawabuchi has told the press that former Yugoslavia and JEF United Ichihara Chiba manager Ivica Osim will officially take over as the Japanese national team manager on July 21, 2006.

Contents

History

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.

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. Japan became the first Asian team to qualify for the knockout phase of the World Cup. 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.

World Cup record

Asian Cup record

East Asian Cup record

Top goalscorers

Former players

Head coach: Zico

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Japan 1-3 Australia

Japan suffered an upset loss in their opening game against Australia. The team took a 1-0 lead on a 26th minute goal by Shunsuke Nakamura. Mark Schwarzer failed to reach Nakamura's cross into the penalty area after collisions in front of the goal, and the ball went untouched into the net.

Australian players protested that Schwarzer had been fouled by Japanese forwards Atsushi Yanagisawa and Naohiro Takahara, but referee Essam Abdullah el Fatah allowed the goal to stand. Schwarzer and Australian captain Mark Viduka claimed that [el Fatah apologized after the match for not calling a foul on the play] but el Fatah denied issuing an apology, and said that "FIFA’s refereeing committee... agreed unanimously that Japan’s goal against Australia was correct."

In the second half, Australia manager Guus Hiddink opted for a more attacking formation, substituting in forward Josh Kennedy and attacking midfielders Tim Cahill and John Aloisi. Japan responded by holding its defensive line low and mixing in occasional counter-attacks for much of the second half, but failed to add to the lead.

Australia had several opportunities in front of the Japanese goal, forcing goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi to make a series of saves, including a double save on Viduka and another save on a Viduka free kick from just outside the penalty area.

But Cahill scored the equaliser ('84) moments after the free kick after Kawaguchi misplayed a long throw-in.

Cahill nearly conceded a penalty kick when he tripped Yuichi Komano in the Australian penalty box, but el Fatah allowed the play to go on.

Minutes later, Cahill scored his second on a shot that deflected off the right goal post into the netting ('89) to put Australia ahead 2-1. Aloisi added another goal in stoppage time ('90+2) to end the game 3-1.

While Australia only held a tiny edge in time of possession, it outshot Japan 20 to 6. Guido Buchwald, World Cup winner with } and Urawa Red Diamonds manager, had said before the tournament began that Japan needed to be more aggressive, saying "In Japan, the players want to keep the ball. But they must learn to shoot the goal. They cannot finish the play."

Japan 0-0 Croatia

The second match, against Croatia, resulted in a draw (0-0), meaning that the Japanese will need to defeat world champions Brazil in order to reach the second round.

Croatia had a first-half opportunity to score when Dado Prso drew a foul from Tsuneyasu Miyamoto inside the penalty area. However, Kawaguchi, dived low to his left to turn away the spot-kick by Darijo Srna (22’), an image later featured that day on [the World Cup Official Site] as the Moment of the Day.

Hidetoshi Nakata's first-time strike off a pass from Nakamura drew a flying save from Stipe Pletikosa (36').

One of the best scoring opportunities of the second half for the Japan came when Akira Kaji "burst into the Croatian penalty box and slid the ball across goal to Yanagisawa but, with the goal at his mercy, he somehow shot wide of the gaping net (51')."

The Man of the Match honor went to Nakata, who "was the link between defence and attack and controlled play superbly", although it was a close decision between him and Kaji, who "ran up and down the flank to great effect, came inside when he had to and showed tremendous commitment throughout the 90 minutes."

Japan 1-4 Brazil

Japan came into this match needing to beat Brazil by at least two goals, and for Croatia to defeat or draw with Australia in the other Group F match held simultaneously.

Japan took the lead first when Keiji Tamada scored on an assist from Alex in the 35th minute. However, Ronaldo just before half time tied the match 1-1 going into the second half.

Brazil took the lead for good in the 54th minute when Juninho struck from 30 meters out. Gilberto added a goal in the 60th minute to make the score 3-1, and Ronaldo added his second of the match -and the 14th in World Cup finals, tied for the most all-time with Gerd Muller- in the 81st minute, finishing the scoring at 4-1.

Brazil had 60 percent of the possession and had 14 shots on goal to just three from Japan.

See also

References

External links

|- !style="background:#BFD7FF;"|

|- style="text-align:center; font-size:90%;" | FIFA | World Cup | Confederations Cup | World Rankings | Player of the Year | Teams

|- style="text-align:left; font-size:90%;" |

     Asia: AFC – Asian Cup
     Africa: CAF – African Cup of Nations
     North America: CONCACAF – Gold Cup
     South America: CONMEBOL – Copa América
     Oceania: OFC – Nations Cup
     Europe: UEFA – European Championship
|

|- !style="background:#BFD7FF;"|

|- style="text-align:center;" | Afghanistan | Australia | Bahrain | Bangladesh | Bhutan | Brunei | Cambodia | China PR | East Timor | Guam | Hong Kong, China | India | Indonesia | Iran | Iraq | Japan | Jordan | Korea DPR | Korea Republic | Kuwait | Kyrgyzstan | Laos | Lebanon | Macau, China | Malaysia | Maldives | Mongolia | Myanmar | Nepal | Oman | Pakistan | Palestine | Philippines | Qatar | Saudi Arabia | Singapore | Sri Lanka | Syria | Chinese Taipei | Tajikistan | Thailand | Turkmenistan | United Arab Emirates | Uzbekistan | Vietnam | Yemen

|- !style="background:#BFD7FF;"|

|- style="text-align:center;" | Champions: Italy 

Runners-up: France 

Third place: Germany 

Eliminated in knockout stage: Argentina | Australia | Brazil | Ecuador | England | Ghana | Mexico | Netherlands | Portugal | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Ukraine 

Eliminated in group stage: Angola | Costa Rica | Côte d'Ivoire | Croatia | Czech Republic | Iran | Japan | Korea Republic | Paraguay | Poland | Saudi Arabia | Serbia and Montenegro | Togo | Trinidad and Tobago | Tunisia | USA

 

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