Reaction: Japan World Cup squad announced

by Bobo

Japan have qualified for their third consecutive finals, having debuted in 1998 and reached the second round last time. The team qualified for this World Cup after beating North Korea 2-0 in Thailand. The team this time around consists of mainly Japanese stars, though there are representatives in the team who play their football in Switzerland, Germany, England, Scotland and France.

The number one jersey belongs to Seigo Narazaki, main goalkeeper for Grampus 8. Former Yokohama goalkeeper Narazaki was selected for the 1998 tournament also, but failed to see any action, instead being preferred to other young, but more established keepers, at the time. However, he played in four matches as Japan reached the second round of the tournament in 2002.

Defender Teruyuki Moniwa plays for FC Tokyo. He was a late replacement in the squad for Makoto Tanaka. He has played for the team since 2003, and appeared extensively during the East Asian Championships. He also played at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Yuichi Komano has long battled for a place within the Japanese defence, having not appeared during recent friendly matches. He was a part of the Japanese 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship team, and has played at Sanfrecce Hiroshima since 2001. He was another member of the 2004 Olympic squad.

Yasuhito Endo was one of the main players in the Japanese runner-up team of the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. He played in the Confederations Cup in 2003, and he was the main midfielder behind the league-winning campaign of 2005's Gamba Osaka team.

Tsuneyasu Miyamoto has played at the same club since the outset of his career, having played with Gamba Osaka since 1995. Most noted for his appearances at the 2002 World Cup, when he ran onto the field wearing a face-mask, he is an expert at leading his team from the back.

Koji Nakata plays in Switzerland for FC Basel. He first played international football at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championships, and has participated in the Confederations Cup three times. He also played at the 2000 Olympics and the 2002 World Cup.

Hidetoshi Nakata’s vision and ability, along with his ability to play with the finest players in English football, make him one of the finest players that Japan have ever produced. After making his mark in Asian football, and being voted Asian footballer of the year twice in a row, in 1997 and ’98, he became Japan’s leading man in 2002, moved to Parma, Bologna and Fiorentina in quick succession, before agreeing a deal with Bolton Wanderers. He started to suffer, with patchy form for the Japanese national team, but regardless was chosen for first-team action this time around.

Mitsuo Osagawara is making his second World Cup appearance, having played seven minutes of the 2002 World Cup tournament which Japan co-hosted. He is one of the best players within the lineup of Japanese team Kashima Antlers, where he is one of the main goalscoring threats within the team.

Naohiro Takahara plays in Hamburg in Germany, having moved from Japan to Germany back in 2002. He spent a year at Argentina’s Boca Juniors, but for his national team, is one of the ten top scorers of all time. He was the player who breached the goalkeeping of Oliver Kahn which ended the German’s record 803-minute defensive streak.

Shunsuke Nakamara plays in Scotland for Celtic and has worked hard to punish his coach for excluding him from the 2002 World Cup squad. He joined Reggina in the same year, before helping them to regain their Serie A status. Looking for a fresh challenge, he became one of the biggest exponents of Japanese football talent in the UK when he joined the big Scottish team.

Maki Seiichiro took up one of the most prized places in the Japanese squad at the last minute after making his debut in 2005 at the East Asian football championship. With his national team appearances limited, he plugged away and continued to play at domestic level, also playing in nine internationals before Germany 2006.

Third goalkeeper Yoichi Doi serves as a deputy these days behind the new talent within the squad. He didn’t spend a single minute on the pitch during his previous two tournaments, but was the first goalkeeper during a key season with FC Tokyo in 2003, which drew attention from Zico, the national coach in the side.

Atshushi Yanagisawa played at the 2000 Olympics, the 2002 World Cup and the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, and is one of Japan’s top 5 goalscorers of all time. He returned to Japan earlier in 2006 after stints in Italy.

Brazilian-born Alessandro Santos previously played for the Japanese team at the 2002 World Cup, and at the FIFA Confederations Cup. He started his domestic career at Shimizu but now plays at Urawa Red Diamonds.

Takashi Fukunishi (and for the love of God, be careful of the pronunciation) has made more than 50 international appearances. He has played for the same team, Jubilo Iwata, since 1995, and played during the 2002 World Cup, the 2004 Asian Cup and the 2005 Federations Cup. He finished joint-scorer in the Japanese team during qualifying with three goals to his credit.

Masashi Oguro plays for Grenoble in France, and first appeared for Japan in January of last year. He made crucial goals against Korea and Iran and qualifying, and, during his only major tournament thus far, hit a winning goal against Greece in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Junichi Inamoto is one of the few Japanese players, if one of the only, to play in the English leagues, which he has done since joining Arsenal in 2001. Having made over 60 international appearances, the attacking midfielder scored twice at the 2002 World Cup, four years before this event.

Shinji Ono began his career at the age of 18 with Urawa Red Diamonds, and has hardly looked back since. He was named the Japanese Footballer of the Year in his first season, and later the J-League Rookie of the year. When he picked up a knee injury at the beginning of the 2000 Olympic Games, he was immediately out of the tournament, and later he was unable to prevent Urawa from going down to the second division. However, staying loyal to his team, he helped them regain J-League status the following year, and only then received an offer from European sides. Later he became the second Asian player to win a major European trophy, battled with injury to gain a 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup place, and lost, and, while hankering after a move to Bolton Wanderers to join teammate Hodetoshi Nakata, he instead rejoined Urawa, where he rediscovered his top form, and scored Japan’s 100th goal in competition under head coach Zico.

Keisuke Tsuboi is another player who has stuck with his team Urawa Red Diamonds since the beginning of his career. He has played many times for his country, primarily in the Confederations Cup, but did not pick up a regular place in the team in 2005.

Keiji Tamada plays for Japanese glamour club Grampus Eight, like the goalkeeper for this World Cup squad. Grampus are currently managed by Sef Gergoossen, but were previously managed by Arsenal mastermind Arsène Wenger. He only played during one of Japan’s twelve qualifying games, and has come back into national reckoning after transferring from recently relegated Kashiwa.

Akira Kaji has been a part of the Japanese team since 1999, when he won silver at the FIFA World Youth Championships, and has since played in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup, the 2005 Confederations Cup, and the qualifiers for this World Cup tournament.

Yuji Nakazawa currently plays for the Marinos of Yokohama, having previously played for obscure Japanese team Tokyo Verdy. Having not been in the preferred lineup of previous national coach Philippe Troussier, he is in the reckoning once again while Zico is at the helm. He played during the 2000 Olympic Games and the 2004 Asian Cup.

Third goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi is nevertheless a popular figure in the Japanese team. He enjoys major celebrity status as a heart-throb within the ranks of female football supporters in the country, and, following a spell with English side Portsmouth, he had a torrid time at the World Cup which he could at least halfway call home, following his previous form of 1998.

Japan won bronze at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, and reached the second round of the World Cup four years ago. In order to repeat this success once again, they will have to rely on the poor form of Australia and Croatia, as the other team in the group is the might of the Brazilians.

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