Group E
Netherlands
Denmark
Japan
Cameroon
Nickname: Soccer Nippon Daihyō – Japanese Representatives of Soccer (officially); Samurai Blue (unofficially)
Colors: Blue, white
Current World Ranking: 45
Manager: Takeshi Okada
Okada was a former player would participated in 24 caps for his nation and first managed the team in the 1998 World Cup. He replaced the previous manager, Ivica Osim, in late 2007 after Osim suffered a stroke. Okada is considered to be one of Japan’s best strategists.
History: The Japanese National Soccer team earned a bronze medal in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico but didn’t qualify for their first World Cup until 1998, partly due to the fact that Japan didn’t have a competitive domestic league until 1993. In the ’98 Cup they played well but lost to both Argentina and Croatia 1-0 then got shocked by Jamaica 2-1, which sent them home from the tournament without a win.
They co-hosted the tournament in 2002 with Korea and advanced to the Round of 16 after beating Russia and Tunisia and drawing against Belgium, but they lost to Turkey 1-0 to end their Cup.
In 2006 they qualified again for the Cup but again went home winless after the opening round after losing to Brazil and Australia, and drawing against Croatia.
They’ve had a lot more success in the Asian Cup though, winning three of the last four tournaments. They also qualified for this World Cup quite easily, as the first Asian nation to do so.
Players: Ultimately Japan is a lot like the United States when it comes to international football. They’ve grown to a point where they can pretty much dominate their Confederation but a lack of overall quality in the Confederation and a relatively young domestic league has prevented them from truly arriving on the big stage. The biggest difference between the US and Japan though is a lack of Japanese players competing in the foreign leagues across Europe. In fact only four players on the current roster play outside Japan.
Shunsuke Nakamura – Midfielder
While Nakamura currently plays in the domestic Japanese league, he’s one of the few players who has competed at one of the top level European clubs having played for Celtic where he won three successive league titles. He did so well there that he earned the Scottish PFA Player’s Player of the Year award and the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year award in 2006/07. At 32 Nakamura is a steely veteran for Japan, having started his international career back in 2000. He was selected for the 2002 World Cup squad because of a small injury and the fact that the manager at the time didn’t feel he had the physical presence or stamina to make an impact. He’s improved immensely since then and is now widely considered one of Japan’s greatest players of all time. He has an impeccable touch on the ball and has become a free-kick specialist. If you have a few extra minutes, take a look at his top five free-kick goals for Celtic. Fair warning though, you may want to have a spare pair of undies on standby because these goals are positively bowel-loosening.
Kengo Nakamura – Midfielder
Unrelated to Shunsuke, Kengo is also almost completely unknown outside of Japan as he’s spent his entire career in the domestic league. He can play as a defensive midfielder or a playmaking attacker, preferring to shred defenses with his excellent dribbling skills. At 29 he’s a late bloomer to the national team, having only made his debut after the last Cup but he’s quickly become an integral part of Japan’s midfield.
Keisuke Honda – Midfielder
At 23 Honda is one of the youngsters on the squad. He made a name for himself at Dutch side VVV-Venio where he earned the nickname Kaiser Keisuke but just made the move to CSKA Moscow in this past winter’s transfer window for $6M. He plays in a striking midfield role and seems to be Japan’s most promising player to take over Shunsuke Nakamura’s role for the international team.
Prediction: Japan will likely have another rough go at it for this Cup. Head-to-head they would always be underdogs to Netherlands and Denmark and while they might be able to take Cameroon on any given day, if that day happens to be on Cameroon’s home continent I think Japan will be in trouble. While it’s not realistic for them to advance out of this group, it is realistic for them to play the role of the spoiler for one of the other teams. A draw or loss to Japan for Denmark or Cameroon could very well end their tournament.
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