Australia coach Pim Verbeek said to The Sydney Morning Herald of the upcoming February 11 clash against Japan:
“They have to win at home against us. That means they are under more pressure than we are.
“Okay, we want to win, but we don’t have to win. The pressure is more on their side.”
“We always thought Uzbekistan [...]

Takeshi Okada’s lofty goals at the 2010 World Cup take an important step as the Blue Samurai’s head toward Asian Cup qualifying matches against Yemen on January 20 and Bahrain on January 28. Following those two matches they will return to working as a team ahead of the crucial World Cup qualifying match against Australia [...]

Vissel Kobe were dealt a difficult blow to there attack as Blue Samurai Yasuhito Okubo moved to Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg. The twenty-six year old striker was highly productive for Vissel Kobe, scoring twenty-five times since coming over from Cerezo Osaka but has been anxious to test his abilities in European competition. VfL Wolfsburg manager [...]

Takeshi Okada has set the bar high for the 2010 World Cup stating that he believes a final-four finish is possible:
“We will seriously aim to finish in the top four at the World Cup. Some people may laugh it off but I think it is possible.”
His lofty goals will be put to test this February [...]

The much ballyhooed move of Blue Samurai Shunsuke Nakamura from Celtic to J-League’s Yokohama has been squashed as the F Marinos parent company, Nissan, is cutting costs during the worldwide financial meltdown.
The thirty year-old veteran has expressed an intense desire to return to Japan with Yokohama, where his professional career commenced in 1997. [...]

After a brilliant run in the U20 Women’s World Cup, Japan suffered a 2-1 defeat to Korea DPR in the quarterfinals. While Japan got off to a fast start the Korean side took the lead at twenty-two minutes with Cha Hu Nam ’s goal. Japan fought back with the equalizer six minutes before the break [...]

The build-up for Qatar match didn’t materialize into the challenge anyone was expecting as Takeshi Okada’s Blue Samurai easily defeated Qatar 3-0 with goals from J-League Urawa Reds Tatsuya Tanaka and Marcus Tulio Tanaka and Grampus’ Keiji Tamada. Japan took the lead at the nineteenth minute at twenty year-old Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers) crossed to [...]

The match still has twenty minutes left but I just wanted fans to know that Japan is up 3-0 over Qatar with goals by Tatsuya Tanaka, Keiji Tamada and Marcus Tulio Tanaka. I will provide a summary after the match but this is obviously looking very good.

As Takeshi Okada leads his Blue Samurai forces against Qatar he knows with both squads tied two points behind Australia a victory is an absolute must to avoid the disaster of not qualifying for the World Cup. However without a victory over Qatar in the past and with so much on the line, they have [...]

With the recent injuries Takeshi Okada has called upon Shimizu S-Pulse defender Kazumichi Takagi and Urawa Red Diamonds ‘keeper Ryuta Tsuzuki to the Blue Samurai for the upcoming friendly against Syria.