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The Japan national football team is the national Football team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association . The team is commonly known by the fans and media as ''Nihon Daihyo'' (日本代表 "Japanese representatives"), ''Daihyo'' (代表 "representatives". The team is known as ''Samurai Blue''. HISTORY In 1991 , the owners of the semi-professional Japan Soccer League agreed to disband the league and re-form as the professional J. League , partly to raise the sport's profile and to strengthen the national team program. With the launch of the new league in 1993 , interest in football and the national team grew. However, in its first attempt to qualify with professional players, Japan narrowly missed a ticket to the 1994 FIFA World Cup after failing to beat Iraq in the final match of the qualification round, remembered by fans as the Agony Of Doha . The nation's first FIFA World Cup appearance was in 1998 , where they lost all three matches. Japan's first two fixtures went 1-0 in favor of Argentina and Croatia , despite playing well in both games. Their campaign ended with an unexpected 2-1 defeat to rank outsiders Jamaica . Four years later, Japan co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with South Korea . Despite being held to a 2-2 draw by Belgium in their opening game, the Japanese team advanced to the second round with a 1-0 win over Russia and a 2-0 victory against Tunisia . However, they subsequently exited the tournament during the Round of 16, after losing 1-0 to eventual third-place finishers Turkey . On June 8 , 2005 , Japan qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany , its third consecutive World Cup, by beating North Korea 2-0 in Bangkok, Thailand . However, Japan failed to advance to the Round of 16 after finishing group play without a win, losing to Australia 1-3, drawing Croatia 0-0 and losing to Brazil 1-4. 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 Iran and Saudi Arabia . Japan is the only team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América , being invited in 1999 , along with Mexico . 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. WORLD CUP RECORD
ASIAN CUP RECORD
EAST ASIAN CUP RECORD TOP GOALSCORERS ''As of September 8 , 2007 ''
MOST CAPPED ''As of September 8 , 2007 ''
CURRENT SQUAD Latest squad selected (for versus Switzerland / Austria , September 2007) Caps and goals as of September 2 , 2007 . Recent Call Ups The following players have also been called up to the Japan squad within the last twelve months. ;Goalkeepers ;Defenders ;Midfielders ;Forwards FORMER PLAYERS
2006 WORLD CUP INFORMATION Japan 1-3 Australia Japan suffered an upset loss in their opening game against Australia . The team took a 1-0 lead on a 26th minute goal by Shunsuke Nakamura . Mark Schwarzer failed to reach Nakamura's cross into the penalty area after collisions in front of the goal, and the ball went untouched into the net. In the second half, Australia manager Guus Hiddink opted for a more attacking formation, substituting in forward Joshua Kennedy and attacking midfielders Tim Cahill and John Aloisi . Japan responded by holding its defensive line low and mixing in occasional counter-attacks for much of the second half, but failed to add to the lead. But Cahill scored the equaliser ('84) moments after the free kick after Kawaguchi misplayed a long throw-in. Minutes later, Cahill scored his second on a shot that deflected off the right goal post into the netting ('89) to put Australia ahead 2-1. Aloisi added another goal in stoppage time ('90+2) to end the game 3-1. Japan 0-0 Croatia The second match, against Croatia , resulted in a draw (0-0), meaning that the Japanese will need to defeat world champions Brazil in order to reach the second round. Hidetoshi Nakata 's first-time strike off a pass from Nakamura drew a flying save from Stipe Pletikosa (36'). Japan 1-4 Brazil Japan came into this match needing to beat Brazil by at least two goals, and for Croatia to defeat or draw with Australia in the other Group F match held simultaneously. Japan took the lead first when Keiji Tamada scored on an assist from Alex in the 35th minute. However, Ronaldo just before half time tied the match 1-1 going into the second half. Brazil took the lead for good in the 54th minute when Juninho struck from 30 meters out. Gilberto added a goal in the 60th minute to make the score 3-1, and Ronaldo added his second of the match -and the 14th in World Cup finals, tied for the most all-time with Gerd Müller - in the 81st minute, finishing the scoring at 4-1. WORLD CUP ROSTERS ASIAN CUP ROSTERS
CONFEDERATIONS CUP ROSTERS SUMMER OLYMPICS ROSTERS
YOUTH NATIONAL TEAM FIFA U-20 World Cup record
FIFA U-17 World Cup record
LICENSING FOR VIDEO GAMES The Japanese national team is currently licensed only for portrayal in video games by Konami (for example, Winning Eleven ), and thus does not appear in the FIFA Series of football videogames made by EA (although the Japanese national team has been featured in FIFA International Soccer until FIFA 2002 and all the FIFA World Cup Games also made by EA). SEE ALSO
REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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