Team profile: Japan
The current Asian Champions head to their third consecutive World Cup Finals and their continual improvement suggests they will be right in the race for a place in the knockout phase.
Published On 4 Jun 2006
FIFA Ranking: 18
Coach: Zico
Key players: Hidetoshi Nakata, Naohiro Takahara, Shunsuke Nakamura
World Cup record: Third appearance
Best Finish: Second Round 2002
Qualifying route: Won Asian Group B
Key question: Can Brazilian Zico mastermind the downfall of his homeland?
Squad:
Goalkeepers | # |
Seigo Narazaki | 1 |
Yoichi Doi | 12 |
Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi | 23 |
Defenders | |
Teruyuki Moniwa | 2 |
Yuichi Komano | 3 |
Tsuneyasu Miyamoto | 5 |
Koji Nakata | 6 |
Alessandro Santos | 14 |
Keisuke Tsuboi | 19 |
Akira Kaji | 21 |
Yuji Nakazawa | 22 |
Midfielders | |
Yasuhito Endo | 4 |
Hidetoshi Nakata | 7 |
Mitsuo Ogasawara | 8 |
Shunsuke Nakamura | 10 |
Takashi Fukunishi | 15 |
Junichi Inamoto | 17 |
Shinji Ono | 18 |
Forwards | |
Naohiro Takahara | 9 |
Seiichiro Maki | 11 |
Atsushi Yanagisawa | 13 |
Masashi Oguro | 16 |
Keiji Tamada | 20 |
Group matches:
v Australia, 13:00 GMT, Monday 12th June – Kaiserslautern
v Croatia, 13:00 GMT, Sunday 18th June – Nuremberg
v Brazil, 19:00 GMT, Thursday 22nd June – Dortmund
Source: Al Jazeera