Despite their overall outstanding play, Japan is still a team with some weaknesses and prone to inconsistent play.

Japan’s midfield is definitely its strength. Hidetoshi Nakata (Bolton Wanderers), the two-time Asian player of the Year who is arguably the best Japanese player ever, leads the pack. Scotland-based Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic) and Shinji Ono (Urawa), who just returned to Japan’s J-League after four and a half years with Dutch club Feyenoord, are immensely talented and bring invaluable experience to the team. Set-piece specialist Mitsuo Ogasawara (Kashima Antlers) adds another dimension to the offense as does the versatile Alessandro Santos (Urawa), who was born in Brazil but moved to Japan as a student and became a citizen.

Team captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (Gamba Osaka) will anchor the center of the defensive line. Right-back Akira Kaji (Gamba Osaka) is very capable in a defensive role but can easily push forward to join the attack.

Strikers Atsushi Yanagisawa (Messina) and Naohiro Takahara (Hamburger SV), who are honing their talents in the Italian Serie A and German Bundesliga, respectively, will be counted on to put the ball in the net. If they can do that then Japan should have a shot at advancing to the second round.