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Asian Cup 2000

There are a number of reasons why the Japanese team seemed to come out of nowhere, but for those who have been following the national team over the past year, it was not a particular surprise. One factor is that the Asia Cup marked the first time that Japan fielded a team that included all of its best young players. For a variety of reasons -- some of them involving the politics of the JFA -- Troussier has continued to call up a large number of veterans despite the fact that they clearly are now outclassed by under-23 players. However, it now seems clear that the new generation is taking over as the core of the national team.

Midfielders Shunsuke Nakamura, Shinji Ono, Junichi Inamoto and Tomokazu Myojin will probably form the core of any future Japanese team, perhaps supported by relative veterans Hiroshi Nanami and Hidetoshi Nakata. The key players in the back line are also youngsters, including Naoki Matsuda, Koji Nakata and Ryuzo Morioka. Naohiro Takahara finally made his mark in the 2000 Asia Cup. He will probably be joined by Atsushi Yanagisawa, and perhaps veteran Akinori Nishizawa, on future national teams. The only place where Troussier has continued to rely mainly on veterans is at keeper, where Daiichiro Takakuwa and Seigo Narazaki are seen as the two top candidates, though Troussier certainly has U-23 options in Yuta Minami and Hitoshi Sogahata.

After their successful performance at the Asia Cup, it will be interesting to see where Japan goes in 2001 and beyond.

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GROUP A
TEAM	P	W	D	L	GF:GA	PTS.
Iran	3	2	1	0	6:1	7
Iraq	3	1	1	1	4:3	4
Thailand	3	0	2	1	2:4	2
Lebanon	3	0	2	1	3:7	2

12-Oct-00; Saida,15:05	Iraq vs. Thailand	2:0 (1:0)
12-Oct-00; Sports City, 20:45	Lebanon vs. Iran	0:4 (0:1)
15-Oct-00; Sports City,17:05	Iran vs. Thailand	1:1 (0:1)
15-Oct-00 : Sports City, 19:45	Lebanon vs. Iraq	2:2 (1:2)
18-Oct-00 : Saida, 19:35	Iran vs. Iraq	1:0 (0:0)
18-Oct-00 : Sports City, 19:35	Lebanon vs. Thailand	1:1 (0:0)

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GROUP B
TEAM	P	W	D	L	GF:GA	PTS.
China PR	3	1	2	0	6:2	5
Kuwait	3	1	2	0	1:0	5
Korea Republic	3	1	1	1	5:3	4
Indonesia	3	0	1	2	0:7	1

13-Oct-00 : Tripoli, 17:05	Korea vs. China	2:2 (1:1)
13-Oct-00 : Tripoli, 19:45	Kuwait vs. Indonesia	0:0
16-Oct-00 : Tripoli, 17:05	China PR vs. Indonesia	4:0 (3:0)
16-Oct-00 : Tripoli, 19:45	Korea vs. Kuwait	0:1 (0:1)
19-Oct-00 : Tripoli, 19:35	China PR vs. Kuwait	0:0
19-Oct-00 : Sport City, 19:35	Korea vs. Indonesia	3:0 (1:0)

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GROUP C
TEAM	P	W	D	L	GF:GA	PTS.
Japan	3	2	1	0	13:3	7
Saudi Arabia	3	1	1	1	6:4	4
Qatar	3	0	3	0	2:2	3
Uzbekistan	3	0	1	2	2:14	1

14-Oct-00 : Saida, 17:05	Saudi Arabia vs. Japan	1:4 (0:2)
14-Oct-00 : Saida<, 19:45	Qatar vs. Uzbekistan	1:1 (0:0)
17-Oct-00 : Saida, 17:05	Japan vs. Uzbekistan	8:1 (5:1)
17-Oct-00 ; Saida, 19:45	Saudi Arabia vs. Qatar	0:0
20-Oct-00 : Saida, 19:35	Saudi Arabia vs. Uzbekistan	5:0 (2:0)
20-Oct-00 : Sport City, 19:35	Japan vs. Qatar	1:1 (0:1)

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QUARTERFINALS
23-Oct-00 : Tripoli, 16:45		Iran vs. Korea Republic	1:2 ET (0:0)
23-Oct-00 : Sports City, 19:45	China PR vs. Qatar	3:1 (2:0)
24-Oct-00 ; Sports City, 16:45	4:1 (3:1)
24-Oct-00 : Sports City, 19:45	Kuwait vs. Saudi Arabia	2:3 ET (0:0)

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SEMIFINALS
26-Oct-00 : Sports City, 16:45	Korea vs. Saudi Arabia	1:2 (0:0)
26-Oct-00 : Sports City, 19:45	<China vs. Japan	2:3 (1:1)

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THIRD PLACE
29-Oct-00 : Sports City, 16:05	Korea Republic vs. China PR	1:0 (0:0)
FINAL
29-Oct-00 : Sports City, 18:45	Saudi Arabia vs. Japan	0:1 (0:1)