Japan Will be Out of its Depth in South Africa

Japan is a big name nation without big names on the park at the 2010 World Cup.

How they got here
Qualification never looked in doubt for Japan but it was a far from perfect ride to South Africa for the former hosts. Having received a bye through the first group phase, Japan won four games out of six but lost on the road to Bahrain and drew at Oman en route to the final qualifying phase.

Japan got back on track quickly with three wins and two draws from its opening five games in the final group stage. Victory in Japan’s sixth game, on the road to Uzbekistan, secured qualification for South Africa. The campaign slipped off the rails slightly once a place in the World Cup was secure with Japan only getting a draw at home to Qatar and then losing on the road to Australia.

Who to watch
Past Japanese squads have featured a host of players from the top European leagues but the 2010 team has a very different look. Japan’s own J-League provides the bulk of the 23 man roster, with Shunsuke Nakamura the most notable home-based talenet. Nakamura spent 8 years in Europe, most notably with Celtic in Scotland where the midfielder won three league titles and played regularly in the Champions League.

There are some Europe-based players in the squad and their experience of top-level Soccer will be vital to Japan’s chances. Takayuki Morimoto of Serie A’s Catania has been compared to Brazilian legend Ronaldo and the 22 year old striker will look to raise his profile at the World Cup. Midfielder Makoto Hasebe is one of the most successful Japanese players in Europe, helping Wolfsburg win the Bundesliga title in 2009.

How they will perform
Japan’s decision to schedule more games than most national teams in the run-up to South Africa will win them some fans in World Cup betting. These extra games will help the squad to gel better ahead of the group stage.

That extra time to get to know each other aside, there are few reasons to like Japan in Group E. Looking at the simple talent available, while J-League clubs have dominated the Asian Champions League, Japan simply doesn’t have the players with the quality or experience of their group rivals. Japan travelled to the 2006 World Cup with a much stronger squad than the one they have currently and still didn’t make it out of the group phase. With tougher opponents and a weak team, there’s no reason to believe they can go one better in 2010.

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