TEAMS: Japan

Japan as a footballing country has come so far in such little time. Despite submitting to the strength of Argentina and Croatia in the group stages at France 98, the Japanese, along with Jamaica, gave a good account of themselves and one or two of their players have now become household names. Hidetoshi Nakata is arguably the most famous of the Japanese squad after his big money move to the Italian League, first with Perugia, followed by a spell at Roma and now with Parma. His performances outshone many of the superstars the Japanese team faced at the 98 World Cup with his skill, vision and invention all shining through and influencing the other members of the Japanese team. When the nation makes it's second (and successive) appearance as co-hosts of the next World Cup, it will be another proud step and one which should signal the continuation of the popularity which football has gained since Japan's success in France 98, and more recently when they unluckily finished runners-up to France in last years FIFA Confederations Cup.

The Squad

Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi Position: GK DOB:28/1/78 Club: Portsmouth	Seigo Narazaki Position: GK DOB:15/4/76 Club: Nagoya	Hitoshi Sogahata Position: GK DOB:2/8/79 Club: Kashuma Antlers
Yukata Akita Position: DF DOB:6/8/70 Club: Kashima Antlers	Naoki Matsuda ** Position: DF DOB:14/3/77 Club: Yokohama	Ryuzu Morioka Position: DF DOB:7/10/75 Club: Shimizu
Toshihiro Hattori Position: DF DOB:23/9/73 Club: Iwata	Koji Nakata Position: DF DOB:9/7/79 Club: Kashima	Tsuneyasu Miyamoto Position: DF DOB:7/2/77 Club: Gamba Osaka
Junichi Inamoto Position: MID DOB:18/9/79 Club: Arsenal	Hidetoshi Nakata Position: MID DOB:22/1/77 Club: Parma	Hiroaki Morishima Position: MID DOB:30/4/72 Club: Cereza Osaka
Allesandro Santos ** Position: MID/FW DOB:20/7/77 Club: Shimizu	Takashi Fukunishi Position: MID DOB:1/9/76 Club: Jubilo Iwata	Shinji Ono** Position: FW DOB:27/9/79 Club: Feynoord
Mitsuo Ogasawara Position: FW DOB:5/4/79 Club: Kashima Antlers	Tomokazu Myojin Position: FW DOB:24/1/78 Club: Kashiwa	Kazuyuki Toda Position: MID DOB:30/12/77 Club: Shimizu
Daisuke Ichikawa Position: MID DOB:14/5/84 Club:Shimizu	Akinori Nishizawa Position: FW DOB:18/6/76 Club: Cerezo Osaka	Masashi Nakayama Position: FW DOB:23/9/67 Club: Iwata
Takayuku Suzuki** Position: FW DOB:5/6/76 Club: Kashima	Atsushi Yanagisawa Position: FW DOB:27/5/77 Club: Kashima

KEY: (GK-Goalkeeper, DF-Defender, MID-Midfield, FW-Forward)
**player to watch