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Japan
- Nickname:
- Samurai Blue
- Founded:
- 1921
- Joined FIFA:
- 1929
- Coach:
- Takeshi Okada
The Japanese thus made it to their fourth consecutive FIFA World Cup, and their third on a different continent, having previously played in the 1998 and 2006 tournaments in Europe, as well as the 2002 competition of which they were co-hosts.
There are a number of differences to Japan’s preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in relation to the manner in which they qualified for and their approach to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the most telling being that they go to South Africa with a local coach in Takeshi Okada.
Okada was at the helm of the Japanese national team man when they made their first appearance at a FIFA World Cup at France 98, and the 53-year-old took charge of the team in late 2007 when then national coach Ivica Osim, a Bosnian national, had a stroke and was unable to continue in his role.
Team Info
| Coach | Team Nickname |
|---|---|
| Takeshi Okada | Samurai Blue |
| Founded | Joined FIFA | President | Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 1929 | Motoaki Inukai | JFA House Football Ave. Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 113-8311 |
| Telephone | Fax | Website |
|---|---|---|
| +81-3/3830 2004 | +81-3/3830 2005 | www.jfa.or.jp |
| Honours |
|---|
Team History
| Tournament | P | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 Olympics - Men Football | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| 1998 FIFA World Cup France | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| International Friendlies | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
Team Record
| MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Y | R | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Record | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 6 |
| Home Record | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Away Record | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3 |
Last 10
| Last 10: | D | W | L | W | ||||||
| Last 10 Home: | W | |||||||||
| Last 10 Away: | D | W | L |
Latest Fixtures & Results
| Home | Results | Away | Date | Venue | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Japan |
1 - 0 |  Cameroon |
14 Jun 10 | Free State | Report |
 Netherlands |
1 - 0 | Japan |
19 Jun 10 | Durban | Report |
 Denmark |
1 - 3 | Japan |
24 Jun 10 | Royal Bafo... | Report |
 Paraguay |
0 - 0 | Japan |
29 Jun 10 | Loftus Ver... | Report |
| Home | Fixtures | Away | Date | Venue | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No fixtures available. | |||||
Squad List
| Name | MP | Min | G | Y | R | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goal Keeper | ||||||
| 1 | Seigo Narazaki | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Eiji Kawashima | 4 | 360 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defender | ||||||
| 3 | Yuichi Komano | 4 | 360 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Marcus Tanaka | 4 | 360 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Yuto Nagatomo | 4 | 360 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | Atsuto Uchida | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Daiki Iwamasa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Yasuyuki Konno | 0 (1) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Yuji Nakazawa | 4 | 360 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielder | ||||||
| 2 | Yuki Abe | 4 | 350 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | Yasuhito Endo | 4 | 360 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | Daisuke Matsui | 4 | 273 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | Shunsuke Nakamura | 0 (1) | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Kengo Nakamura | 0 (1) | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Makoto Hasebe | 4 | 345 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Keisuke Honda | 4 | 360 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | Junichi Inamoto | 0 (2) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Striker | ||||||
| 9 | Shinji Okazaki | 0 (4) | 74 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Keiji Tamada | 1 (1) | 103 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Kisho Yano | 0 (1) | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Yoshito Okubo | 4 | 337 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Takayuki Morimoto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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