Japan – the country, the football

Officially pronounced “Nippon-koku” or “Nihon-koku”, Japan is an island country situated in the Pacific Ocean.

To the south, it has Taiwan and the East China Sea whereas the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea, and Russia as well as the Sea of Okhotsk are located to the east and to the north respectively.

Japan is actually formed of 6,852 islands with Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido constituting 97% of Japan’s land area as the country’s largest islands.

Japan has one of the biggest populations in the world with around 128,000,000 inhabitants – 30,000,000 of which reside in Japan’s capital Tokyo only.

The ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ (the definition of the name Japan) experienced one of, if not the greatest, development in the industrial and economic world.

The 20th century saw them grow as one of the powerful nations. Japan is best known for its influence in science and technology; Car and machinery brands like Toyota and Akai are just few examples of Japan’s popularization in the world's scientific and technologic sector.

Now Japan’s importance in the world of business is far from being equaled by the country’s importance in the world of soccer.

If Japan’s national football team (the Samurai Blue) is a major force in the AFC region having won three trophies in six attempts, their pedigree is not the same at the international level.

Perhaps their 2001 second-place finish at the FIFA Confederations Cup will come as their most impressive run in a major international tournament.

But in the World Cup, there has never been much to celebrate. In their only three appearances – which came consecutively since France 1998 – Japan’s best result was a Round of 16 finish. That was back in 2002 when they co-hosted the tournament with South Korea.

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success in the Asian Cup

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 Saudi Arabia, and most recently Australia.

Japan is the only team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América, having been invited in 1999 and 2011.

In August 2006, incoming head coach Ivica Osim gave the captaincy to Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, as he felt that the extra responsibilities detracted from former captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto's contributions to his club team.

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, in the fourth round of the Asian Qualifiers, Japan became the first team other than the host South Africa to qualify after defeating Uzbekistan 1-0, in Tashkent. Japan is in Group E along with the Netherlands, Denmark and Cameroon.

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Takeshi Okada

Takeshi Okada is the head coach of the Japanese national soccer team.

As a player, he played 24 games and scored one goal for the Japan national football team between 1980 and 1985.

He coached Japan at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, later Consadole Sapporo (1999-2001) and Yokohama F Marinos (2003-2006).

Okada was named Japan's head coach in December 2007 to replace Ivica Osim, who suffered a stroke.

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Japan World Cup bid to focus on 2022

concentrate on bidding for the 2022 World Cup after being told the 2018 tournament will go to Europe, the country's football chief said on Tuesday.

Japan Football Association (JFA) president Motoaki Inukai said he had been advised by FIFA boss Sepp Blatter to focus on taking the 2022 finals to Asia.

"The atmosphere was that they want to bring the 2018 tournament back to Europe," Inukai told reporters on his return to Japan.

"It will be a cut-throat battle (for 2022) and it will require an awful lot of leg-work."

Inukai will make a formal announcement after a bid committee meeting on May 11.

"President Blatter told us European countries would be involved in a fight to host the 2018 World Cup and it would be wiser to aim for 2022," Inukai said after a visit to FIFA headquarters in Zurich on Monday.

Japan will face competition in Asia for the 2022 World Cup from South Korea, with whom they co-hosted the 2002 finals, and Qatar.

England, Australia, Russia, the United States and joint bidders Belgium/Netherlands and Spain/Portugal are in the hat for both 2018 and 2022.

FIFA will name the host countries for both tournaments in December. fa cup final tickets for South Africa 2010 and Champions League final tickets and Inter Milan Vs Bayern Munich Tickets are available now a days.

The World Cup 2010 tickets of all matches are now available for sale. Football tickets of all the matches of World Cup are for sale at ticket4football.com, you can buy the Japan World Cup Tickets for its upcoming matches and World Cup Football tickets of other teams on this website.

more success in the Asian Cup

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 Saudi Arabia, and most recently Australia.

Japan is the only team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América, having been invited in 1999 and 2011.

In August 2006, incoming head coach Ivica Osim gave the captaincy to Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, as he felt that the extra responsibilities detracted from former captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto’s contributions to his club team. fa cup final tickets for South Africa 2010 and Champions League final tickets and Inter Milan Vs Bayern Munich Tickets are available now a days.

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, in the fourth round of the Asian Qualifiers, Japan became the first team other than the host South Africa to qualify after defeating Uzbekistan 1-0, in Tashkent. Japan is in Group E along with the Netherlands, Denmark and Cameroon.

The World Cup 2010 tickets of all matches are now available for sale. Football tickets of all the matches of World Cup are for sale at ticket4football.com, you can buy the Japan World Cup Tickets for its upcoming matches and World Cup Football tickets of other teams on this website.

World Cup 2010 : Sota Hirayama Has High Hopes For Japan Place

Sota Hirayama is waiting to hear if he is going to make the Japan squad for South Africa.

The FC Tokyo striker offers Japan an option of height in attack and is hoping that his skills on the floor as well as his 190cm frame could tempt coach Takeshi Okada to name him on May 11.

Hirayama made his international debut in January this year, scoring a hat-trick in a 3-2 win in Yemen.

"I really want to go to the World Cup, but I'm not taking anything for granted," Hirayama told The Japan Times.

"If I don't get picked I'm sure I'll be disappointed and it will hurt, but I can still play football and there is always another World Cup in four years. I also have ambitions that I want to fulfill with my club, and if I don't make it, I will just have to work harder.

"But my height is an advantage. Other teams might be expecting the Japanese players all to be short, so it's in my favor that I'm tall."

Hirayama is not an automatic pick and has missed the squads for Japan’s last two games. He intends to keep scoring for FC Tokyo and see what happens.

"Goals are the best medicine for a striker," he said. "No matter what shape you're in, if you score it gives you confidence. If you have confidence, you play in a positive frame of mind. That's a very important thing."

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