JAPAN - HOME SHIRT 2010
The Japan Football Association was founded in 1921 as the Greater Japan Football Association and has been affiliated to FIFA since 1929. Japan have worn dark blue since the 1930s, the colour behind their nickname, Samurai Blue. The team's biggest qualifiers and finals send-offs are played at Saitama Stadium 2002, a 63,700-capacity arena north of Tokyo. By 2010 Japan were Asia's most consistent footballing nation, having reached every World Cup finals since 1998.
The 2010 season, during which this classy home shirt was worn, revolved entirely around the World Cup in South Africa, Japan's fourth straight finals appearance. Under manager Takeshi Okada, and with expectations low after a poor run of form beforehand, Japan beat Cameroon 1-0 and Denmark 3-1, either side of a narrow 0-1 loss to the Netherlands, to finish second in Group E. The win over Cameroon in Bloemfontein was Japan's first World Cup victory away from home soil, their only two previous finals wins having come as co-hosts in 2002.
Japan's reward was a first World Cup knockout match played outside Japan, a tense last-16 tie with Paraguay in Pretoria. Neither side could break the deadlock through 120 goalless minutes, and the game went to the tournament's first penalty shootout. Yuichi Komano's effort cannoned back off the crossbar, and Paraguay converted their fifth spot-kick to win 5-3, ending Japan's run at the round of 16 and matching their best-ever World Cup finish.
Keisuke Honda was the standout, scoring the winner against Cameroon and a swerving direct free kick against Denmark before teeing up Shinji Okazaki's late third goal in that game. Yasuhito Endo also scored a direct free kick in that same Denmark match, two from one side in a single World Cup game being a rare feat. Goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima started every match, and Honda's performances marked him out as Japan's leading star heading into the next decade.
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