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Surprisingly, in a country famous for Sumo wrestling and American
baseball, football has become a very popular sport in Japan. But
this hasn't always been the case and in fact the country's first major
entry into the international football arena came in the 1968 Olympic
Games in Mexico City, where the team won the bronze. And while Japan
has been entering teams in the FIFA World Cup since 1954, the first
time it qualified for the prestigious football tournament was in 1998.
But to go back a few years, in 1991 the owners of the semi-professional
Japan Soccer League decided to relaunch it as the professional J.
League,
and by 1993 a new stronger Japan national football team was
born. From that year Japanese interest in the sport and its national
squad
grew to the level it is at today. The team is overseen by the Japan
Football Association (JFA), which appointed coach Takeshi Okada to
guide the side leading up to the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Thanks to Okada's hard work and dedication with the team, it qualified
for the World
Cup and even reached the first round. The JFA was so impressed with
Okada that he has remained the coach of the Japan national football
team until today, and will accompany the team to the 2010 World Cup
in South Africa. Known by Japanese fans as Soccer Nippon Daihyō or
Samurai Blue, the Japanese national squad may be one of the teams to
watch this year.
The team has also made its mark in Asia, being a
three-time winner of the coveted Asian Cup on top of having qualified
for the last four FIFA World Cups.
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