Often buried beneath the well-documented Japanese love of baseball and sumo, soccer is quickly emerging in Japan after the nation successfully co-hosted the senior 2002 World Cup with South Korea. That's especially so among the young, who are forsaking the older generation's affection for baseball and sumo to embrace what they perceive as the hipper culture of soccer. The J-League, Japan's professional soccer circuit, has taken the nation by storm and games attract large crowds.
Japan is making its seventh consecutive trip to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, which indicates that it is a major force in Asian soccer. In that span, Japan has made it to the quarter-finals four times and has failed only once to make it out of the group stage - in 2001 in Argentina. The high point was reaching the championship game in 1999 in Nigeria before bowing to Spain.
Japan comes to Group F in Victoria as the Asian runner-up after a shocking loss to upstart North Korea in the Asian qualifying championship game played in Calcutta.
The Japanese play to their strengths with a darting, quick style that utilizes precision short passing to move the ball up the field and take the play to the opposition.
"We are in a tough group in Victoria," Japanese team head coach Yasushi Yoshida said earlier this week after a training session.
"The Nigerians are so big and physical that I can't believe it and Scotland is solid. But we have good technique and move very quickly. We play very skillful pass-and-move football."
Japan possesses another weapon as well with six-foot-six forward Mike Havenaar who uses his height to good advantage. But even Havenaar says Japan needs to stick to what it does well, and predicts good things if it does.
"Our ability with the short, quick passes could lead to a couple of goals against the Scots in tomorrow's Group F opener," said Havenaar, who is of Dutch ancestry, but was born and raised in Japan.
"We know the Scottish are going to be physically tough, but we hope to move around them with our short passing game."
Havenaar, of the Yokohama Marinos, is one of several Japanese Under-20 team players already in the J-League. Yohei Fukumoto of Oita Trinita provides a stabilizing and steadying presence in the central midfield. Other J-League pros on the Japanese U-20 squad include Tsukasa Umesaki of Oita Trinita, Atomu Tanaka of Albirex Niigata, Atsuto Uchida of the Kashima Antlers and the lethally dangerous striker Yosuke Kashiwagi of Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
Perhaps Japan's key player is the undersized, but daring midfielder Tsukasa Umesaki, who has played pro in both the J-League and for Grenoble in France. Umesaki is the little field general for this Japanese U-20 national side and has already been called up to earn caps on the senior Japanese national team.
