Speaking of Japan, there was a time when there was no professional league. When the J League first started in 1993, it was ridiculed as a pension league in Europe. However, the professional league continued to develop and grew into one of the top leagues in Asia. It’s not just the J League that has grown, but the Japanese national team as well.
Representation from Japan
The Japan National Team is the Japanese men’s national soccer team. Because the Japanese national team has high exposure to the media, it attracts more attention than the J.League, and many soccer fans are paying attention to it. The history of the Japanese national team dates back to 1917. The first game played was a friendly match against the Republic of China in Tokyo in 1917. The Japanese national team is popular sports content in Japan as well. It is now ranked at the top of sports news information.
Why is the team color blue?
The team color of Japan’s national soccer team is blue, affectionately known as Samurai Blue. The blue color of the uniform represents the blue of the sea and sky, which symbolizes Japan’s land, so it is blue.
Why is there a crow on the uniform?
Why is there a crow drawn on the uniform? This is the Yatagarasu, which is said to have guided the way from Kumano to Yamato during the Jinmu East Expedition. The Yatagarasu is the embodiment of the sun, and because it guided Emperor Jimmu to victory, it was adopted as a symbol of victory in the emblem.
home match stadium
Saitama Stadium 2002, which is used by Urawa Reds as their home stadium, is often designated as the home stadium of the Japanese national team. The main reasons for using Saitama Stadium are that it has a high winning percentage and that it is a soccer-only stadium. By the way, access to Saitama Stadium is poor and it takes quite a while from the station. It has a higher level of attention than other soccer teams, and many soccer fans are paying attention to it. The history of the Japanese national team dates back to 1917. The first game played was a friendly match against the Republic of China in Tokyo in 1917.
The Japanese national team has become stronger.
It can be seen that the Japanese national soccer team is clearly growing. This means that we are not looking at the short term, but rather we are growing over the long term. If you look at the years, you can see that the level of the players is steadily increasing. Recently, the level of domestic leagues has risen, the number of players going overseas has increased, and the game has become more popular than baseball, and its performance has come to have an impact on entertainment and the economy as well.
1994 World Cup Asia Final Qualifier
The Doha tragedy occurred during the final Asian qualifying round for the World Cup. In the final Asian qualifying round, Japan was ranked 1st in the qualifying group in terms of points and winning percentage at the end of the 4th match, and was on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup finals for the first time. Even though they were leading by -1, the score was tied in stoppage time, and they narrowly missed out on playing. At this time, the professional league had just been established, and the players were all from the J League.
1998 world cup
The World Cup was a high hurdle for the Japanese national team. In 1994, they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the World Cup, leading to the tragedy in Doha. But this time, on the contrary, we will have a moment of joy. In the qualification match against Iran, Japan was able to get through at the last minute to qualify for the tournament. However, at Hontaka, his lack of ability is revealed. They lost to Jamaica, Croatia, and Argentina. However, Nakata attracted attention at this tournament and was transferred to Perugia of Serie A, the strongest league in the world. Following Nakata’s success, more and more players will be challenging themselves to the Europa League.
2002 world cup
At the 2002 World Cup, we were the host country, but we were able to advance past the group stage for the first time. Nakata started playing in Serie A, the strongest league in the world at the time, and gradually Japanese players began to receive opportunities to compete in Europe’s top leagues. Nanami played for Venice in Serie A, Suzuki played for Genk in Belgium, Inamoto played for Arsenal, and Yanagisawa played for Sampdoria in Serie A. Although there were success stories like Ono at Feyenoord, other players did not make a good mark and were forced to leave the team after a short period of time.
2006 world cup
In the 2006 World Cup, they made it through the qualifying rounds and the members of the so-called golden generation were reaching their maturity, and expectations were high for a good result.However, in the final tournament, they lost to Australia, failed to beat Croatia, and lost to Brazil. Ta. It was a period with many negative aspects, but from this period onwards, Nakamura began to produce results at Celtic and other clubs, and Hasebe transferred from Urawa to Germany’s Wolfsburg, and was able to play regularly. Ta.
2010 world cup
The 2010 World Cup was a hit-or-miss affair, with major changes in tactics made right before the tournament, but they were able to achieve a good result, reaching the top 16. Around this time, Japanese players began to have success in the Europa League one after another. More and more players were competing with prestigious clubs, such as Honda in the Dutch league, Nagatomo in Serie A’s prestigious Inter, and Uchida in the Bundesliga. For that reason, there were high expectations for the 2014 tournament.
2014 world cup
The members of the 2014 World Cup were comparable in quality to strong teams such as Inter, Milan, Schalke, Wolfsburg, and Dortmund, and were even called the strongest team of all time. However, they were defeated in the group stage. This made me realize the reality that even with all these members, we cannot win. At that time, we played open soccer, but it became clear that we could not win that way.
However, it was a failure that they were able to make a change from the weak team they played until 2010, when they could only play counterattacks. This was proven at the 2018 tournament.
2018 world cup
At the 2018 World Cup, he was coached by Nishino, and since he used to play competitive soccer at Gamba Osaka, it was expected that he would play the same type of soccer as he did in 2014. The big difference from the 2014 tournament was that even though we were up against a strong opponent, we were able to play an even match that didn’t let us lose at all. The fact that we were able to play an even match against Belgium, the world’s top team at the time, surprised the world.
Furthermore, around this time, the number of sub-members who played in major leagues in Europe began to increase. Even though they finished in the top 16, there were signs that they were changing from their previous style of playing a withdrawn style where they could only win through counterattacks. In other words, soccer will transform into a game where you can win even if you collide head-on.
2022 world cup
In the 2022 tournament, they played against Costa Rica as a sub-member, and although they were in trouble for their poor management, they achieved impressive victories over Germany and Spain. This surprised the world. Although we ended up losing to the strong Croatia, winning against Germany and Spain was a great experience for us.
What became clear from the previous tournament and this tournament is that there is a clear difference in quality between players who play in the J League and players who play in major European leagues. On the other hand, as the sub-members have also become players who play in major European leagues, the player base has clearly become thicker.
Reasons why the quality of Japanese players is improving
As explained above, the quality of Japanese players has clearly improved. This is because high-quality players are being produced one after another for the following reasons.
Establishment of transfer route
The Japanese soccer world can now establish a transfer route to the Europa League. In the past, there were many players who went straight from the J League to Serie A, but the level difference was too big and they gave up. Nowadays, more and more players are trying out for leagues from leagues such as Belgium, the Netherlands, and France, and more and more players are stepping up from there and going to England and Spain. We have created an environment where you can take on realistic challenges and step up. In particular, Belgium is sponsored by Japanese companies, making it an easy environment for transfers.
J League level up
The level of the J League has improved to an incomparable level compared to when it started in 1993. There is almost no chance that a player who was on the Japanese national team in 1993 will be selected to play on the current Japanese national team. That’s how high the level is. Nowadays, Urawa has won the ACL many times, but in the 1990s, there was no team in the J League that could win the ACL. This point has also changed significantly.
Contribution of foreign players
There are many foreign players in the J League. In the past, the only foreign players in the J League were Koreans or Brazilians. However, in order to survive, J.League clubs have begun desperately searching for talented foreign players, and now talented players are coming from Northern Europe and Africa as well. With the arrival of talented players, their culture, experience, and techniques have been passed on to Japanese players, allowing them to contribute to raising their level.
Let’s watch soccer live
You can watch live soccer matches on many TV channels. Enjoy the soccer match.
| Channel | Plan | Soccer Contents | URL |
| DAZN | \3750 | national team major europe leagues J league | DAZN |
| Hulu | ¥1026 | french league dutch league | Hulu |
| WOWOW | \2530 | UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League | WOWOW |
| ABEMA TV | ¥960 | national team World Cup Premier League scottish league | ABEMA |
| スカパー | ¥429 + ¥2480 | national team emperor’s cup soccer Bundesliga laliga | スカパー！ |
| J SPORTS | \1100 | fifa world youth | J SPORTS |
コメント