Japan vs Egypt
1 - 0 
| Date: Oct 28, 1998 | Location: Nagai Stadium, Osaka | |||||||
Japan |
| Egypt | ||||||
| Masashi Nakayama (25') | Scoring | |||||||
| Masami Ihara (31') Eisuke Nakanishi (89') | Cautions | Hosam Hassan (66') |
In Japan's first national team match of the Troussier era, a team consisting largely of hangers-on from the Okada regime took the field at Nagai Stadium on an October evening and struggled to a narrow victory over an understrength Egyptian side. The only goal of the match came on a penalty kick won by Masashi Nakayama on a rush into the box, following an inlet pass by Wagner Lopes. Nakayama collected his own PK to give Japan the lead, and the eventual margin of victory.
The only players of significance who were added to the roster in addition to the 1998 World Cup team were Daisuke Oku, Tatsuhiko Kubo and Shigeyoshi Mochizuki (all of whom would eventually be abandoned by Troussier before the 2002 World Cup). In addition, Hayato Okanaka got his first and only career call-up to the national team in this match, but did not leave the bench.
Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Masami Ihara, Yutaka Akita, Naoki Soma, Toshihide Saito, Shigeyoshi Mochizuki (Toshihiro Hattori 84), Daisuke Oku, Hiroshi Nanami, Hidetoshi Nakata (Hiroaki Morishima 72) (Eisuke Nakanishi 80), Masashi Nakayama (Tatsuhiko Kubo 59), Wagner Lopes (Shoji Jo 77),
Nader El-Said, Abdullah Zahel Ersaka, Mohammad Omallah (Abdel Erdmani 75), Hanif Ramzi (Hadi Gusbah 40), Samia Ibrahim, Mohammed Yusef, Yasser Radwan, Osama Nabih (Hassem Emam 46), Hossam Abdel Munim, Said Al Hafiz, Hosam Hassan
Full Roster
| Pos. | Name | Birth | Team | Ht | Wt | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi | 8/15/1975 | Yokohama Marinos | 181 | 75 | |
| Seigo Narazaki | 4/15/1976 | Nagoya Grampus | 185 | 76 | ||
| Hayato Okanaka | 9/26/1968 | Gamba Osaka | 185 | 81 | ||
| DF | Yutaka Akita | 8/6/1970 | Kashima Antlers | 180 | 80 | |
| Masami Ihara | 9/18/1967 | Yokohama Marinos | 182 | 74 | ||
| Naoki Soma | 7/19/1971 | Kashima Antlers | 175 | 72 | ||
| Toshihide Saito | 4/20/1973 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 182 | 75 | ||
| Makoto Tanaka | 8/8/1975 | Jubilo Iwata | 178 | 73 | ||
| Eisuke Nakanishi | 6/23/1973 | JEF United Ichihara | 175 | 73 | ||
| MF | Shigeyoshi Mochizuki | 7/9/1973 | Nagoya Grampus | 178 | 68 | |
| Hiroaki Morishima | 4/30/72 | Cerezo Osaka | 168 | 62 | ||
| Toshihiro Hattori | 9/23/1973 | Jubilo Iwata | 178 | 73 | ||
| Hiroshi Nanami | 11/28/72 | Jubilo Iwata | 177 | 71 | ||
| Daisuke Oku | 2/7/1976 | Jubilo Iwata | 173 | 72 | ||
| Takeshi Hirano | 7/15/1974 | Nagoya Grampus | 178 | 73 | ||
| Hidetoshi Nakata | 1/22/1977 | Perugia | 178 | 68 | ||
| FW | Masashi Nakayama | 34 | Jubilo Iwata | 178 | 72 | |
| Wagner Lopes | 1/29/1969 | Nagoya Grampus | 182 | 75 | ||
| Tatsuhiko Kubo | 25 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 181 | 74 | ||
| Shoji Jo | 6/17/1975 | Yokohama Marinos | 179 | 72 | ||
| Masayuki Okano | 9/20/1995 | Urawa Reds | 175 | 69 |
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