FIFA World Cup 2010 – Japanese team leave South Africa and receive rapturous reception in Japan

Japan have bowed out of the World Cup in South Africa after falling at the second round to Paraguay.

The Blue Samurai went the distance against their South American counterparts, but with the game tied after 120 minutes, Paraguay triumphed on penalties 5-3.

Yuichi Komano hit the crossbar with Japan’s third penalty, with Oscar Cardozo scoring the winning kick for Paraguay.

Japan were the last Asian team remaining in the competition, with South Korea losing out to Uruguay at the weekend.

Japan progressed from Group E after victories over Cameroon and Denmark, losing only one of their matches, to the much-fancied Netherlands.

Japan’s coach Takeshi Okada has said he is likely to step down, after targeting the semi-finals as an attainable goal.

The fans of the Asian team seem to appreciate their efforts, and will be hoping that they can improve on this equal best World Cup showing, when the tournament lands in Brazil in four years time.

Japan

Coach: Takeshi Okada

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

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