The excitement is building as we get closer to opening match of the 2010 World Cup. The Great Tournament is less than a month away and the anticipation of the 1st African World Cup is building, its going to be great. Group E breakdowns continue with Japan.

OFFICIAL NAME: Japan Football Association



NICKNAME: Samurai Blue

FIFA CONFEDERATION: AFC (Asia)

FIFA CODE: JPN

HOW THEY QUALIFIED: 2nd place in Group A of Asian WC Qualifying

WORLD CUP APPEARANCES (INCLUDING 2010): 4

BEST WC FINISH: Round of 16, Korea/Japan 2002

WORLD CUP RECORD (MP: Wins - Draws - Losses): 10: 2W - 2D - 6L

HEAD COACH: Takeshi Okada

MOST CAPPED PLAYER (# of caps): Masami Ihara (122)

ALL-TIME GOAL SCORING LEADER (# of goals): Kunishige Kamamoto (75)

BRIEF FOOTBALLING HISTORY:
Japan's success in football has come in within the last 20 years and it has been a rapid ascent. Japan won its 1st of its 3 Asian Cups in 1992, a year after Japan's 1st division of pro football, The J-League, was established. Since then Japan has been a dominant force in Asia by advancing to at least the Asian Cup quarters every time since 1992 and qualifying for its 4th consecutive World Cup.

PLAYER TO WATCH:
They one to watch made history for a Japanese player earlier this year and is the future of Japan's midfield, he is Keisuke Honda.
(AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
The CSKA Moscow midfielder made history by becoming the 1st Japanese player to take part in a UEFA Champions League quarterfinal match. He is the youngest midfielder on Japan's WC squad and provides the youth to balance with a veteran midfield. His free-kick abilities provides The Samurai Blue with an added dimension to the Japanese attack.

OUTLOOK:
The Japanese will need consistent offense in order to advance out of the group. That will be a tough task considering that their opponents in Group E all won their respective qualifying groups with excellent defensive records. Historically in World Cups, Japan has scored only 8 goals in 10 total matches. For them to make a deep run, Japan must be masterful in creating and finishing goal scoring chances.

FINAL 23-MAN WC ROSTER:
Goalkeepers: Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale), Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata)

Defenders: Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama Marinos), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Nagoya Grampus), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata), Daiki Iwamasa (Kashima Antlers), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers)

Midfielders: Shunsuke Nakamura (Yokohama Marinos), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Junichi Inamoto (Kawasaki Frontale), Yuki Abe (Urawa Red Diamonds), Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg, Germany), Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow, Russia), Daisuke Matsui (Grenoble, France)

Forwards: Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse), Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus), Yasuhito Okubo (Vissel Kobe), Kisho Yano (Albirex Niigata), Takayuki Morimoto (Catania, Italy).

WC GROUP SCHEDULE:
June 14 vs. Cameroon
June 19 vs. Netherlands
June 24 vs. Denmark

The final team to breakdown for Group E teams is The Netherlands.