World Cup Team Profiles: Group E: Japan

Teams / Ari Last / 04 March 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Overshadowed by their co-hosts in 2002 and disappointing in 2006, Japan are intent on leaving their mark in 2010...

The fact that Japan - at [500.0] - are ranked as the fourth least likely team to win the World Cup will no doubt hurt a nation that is proud of being Asia's most successful national team. That's not to say that the Japanese are suffering from delusions of grandeur but their gigantic price reflects the lack of progress that the side have made since their decent showing in 2002. A widely accepted sentiment that will make the current team doubly keen to improve upon 2006's miserable performance.

Nation: Japan

Also known as...
'Samurai Blue'

Road to South Africa...
Comfortable in the end, although the four points that Australia took off them in the final qualifying phase didn't go down too well back home. Having said, the Japanese still finished well clear of the rest of the competition including Bahrain, Qatar and Uzbekistan, after winning four and drawing three of their eight group matches.

World Cup Pedigree...
2010 will be their fourth consecutive appearance in a World Cup and they'll be desperate to give a better account of themselves than they did in 2006, when one miserly point was all they picked up before exiting at the Group stage. Their best performance to date was in 2002 when they co-hosted the tournament. They topped their group and were unfortunate to lose 1-0 to Turkey in the second round, although the efforts of their neighbours and fellow hosts South Korea ensured that Japan's credible showing was largely forgotten.

They'll be relying on...
Espanyol's Shunsuke Nakamura filling the void left by the retired Hidetoshi Nakata. The latter hung up his boots in 2006 and had played in his country's three previous tournament appearances. With him now gone, former Celtic favourite Nakamura will be under pressure to supply the creative element to Takeshi Okada's side.

Something you may not have known is...
While many Asian teams are said to suffer from a lack of tournament experience against some of the larger nations, the same cannot be said of Japan. This is because in 1999 they became the first team from outside the Americas to play in the Copa America. They didn't do too well mind, losing two and drawing one of their group matches. However, the experience would no doubt have benefited an emerging football nation ,and the sheer fact that they were invited then, and have been re-invited for the 2011 tournament, highlights how Japan are the pre-eminent force in Asian football.

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