Japan became the first team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup when it defeated Uzbekistan 1-0 on June 6. It will be its fourth consecutive appearance in the World Cup since its debut in the 1998 finals in France.

Coach Takeshi Okada wants his team to become one of the top four in next year's World Cup Finals in South Africa. Given the team's past World Cup performances, this is a very ambitious goal. In the 1998 tournament in France, Mr. Okada coached the team but it lost all three of its matches. In the 2002 World Cup, which was co-hosted by Japan and South Korea, coach Philippe Troussier's team made it to the last 16. But in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, coach Zico's team suffered two defeats and one draw.

After the Japan-Uzbekistan match, the players of the Japan team wore shirts bearing the phrase "Prepared to surprise the world." We hope that their actions match their bold words.

The outlook for Japanese soccer is rather gloomy. The popularity of the sport soared following the J. League's inauguration in 1993, but now the public's enthusiasm appears to be waning. The first match in the Asian final qualifier held in February 2005 in North Korea enjoyed a nationwide TV viewing rate of 47.2 percent. But the corresponding figure for the Tashkent match June 6 was 24.4 percent in the Kanto region and 19.5 percent in the Kansai region.

While Zico was coach, each match held in Japan attracted about 50,000 fans. But since he resigned in the summer of 2006, less than 42,000 fans go to see a match on average. The number of registered J. League players also fell in fiscal 2008 over the previous year for the first time in seven years.

The Japan team needs more star players to increase its level of performance and attract more fans. But as this won't happen any time soon, current team members need to knuckle down and improve their passing so they don't give up the ball so easily. Then their scoring opportunities will increase. To get the team used to tough competition, up until the 2010 World Cup, coach Okada should book as many overseas tuneup matches as possible against strong foreign teams.