NEWSWORTHY
Takashi Inui, Tsukasa Shiotani named as injury replacements for Japan's Asian Cup squad
Shoya Nakajima and Hidemasa Morita have pulled out of Japan's Asian Cup squad with leg injuries and are being replaced by Takashi Inui and Tsukasa Shiotani, the Japan Football Association announced Saturday. Nakajima, who plays for Portuguese club Portimonense, has been used as an attacking ...
Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi receives offer to serve as goalkeeping coach for men's national team: source
The Japan Football Association has offered former Samurai Blue custodian Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi a job as national team goalkeeping coach, a source said Friday. The 43-year-old Kawaguchi, who retired from playing professionally after finishing this past season with third-division SC Sagamihara, reportedly responded positively to the ...
Emperor's Cup final to be first event at new National Stadium in 2020
Tokyo's new National Stadium, the main venue of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, was set Thursday as the venue for next season's Emperor's Cup final. The Japan Football Association's board of directors decided on the stadium, which is expected to be completed by the ...
JFA to co-host inaugural esports tournament at 2019 National Sports Festival
The Japan Football Association has taken its biggest step yet in the country's burgeoning esports scene, joining the Japan Esports Union as co-host of the newly established esports competition in the cultural program at the 2019 National Sports Festival in Ibaraki Prefecture. The inaugural Inter ...
Youngsters Ritsu Doan, Tatsuya Ito among call-ups for Japan's upcoming friendlies
Twenty-year-old Ritsu Doan and 21-year-old Tatsuya Ito were among the 23 players named Thursday by the Japan Football Association to the national squad for the upcoming international friendlies against Chile and Costa Rica. The two matches will be Japan's first following its round-of-16 exit from ...
JFA contests ex-manager Vahid Halilhodzic's defamation claim
The Japan Football Association on Friday took a stand against former Japan head coach Vahid Halilhodzic's claim that it defamed him in a news conference following his dismissal just two months before the World Cup finals. At the first hearing in the suit filed with ...
Hajime Moriyasu appointed manager of Japan men's national team
The Japan Football Association on Thursday asserted its days of reliance on foreign managers was over by naming Japan Olympic squad head coach Hajime Moriyasu to also manage the senior national team. The 49-year-old Moriyasu, who in October took over as head coach of the ...
Mana Iwabuchi, Nahomi Kawasumi among Nadeshiko Japan's 23 call-ups for Tournament of Nations
The Japan Football Association on Friday named a 23-woman squad for the upcoming Tournament of Nations, with veteran forward Nahomi Kawasumi and Asian Cup MVP Mana Iwabuchi among the selections. In April, Iwabuchi spearheaded Nadeshiko Japan's successful defense of the Women's Asian Cup in Jordan. ...
Hajime Moriyasu emerges as top coaching candidate for Japan national team
Hajime Moriyasu, who will coach Japan's men's team during the soccer competition at the 2020 Olympics, is the top candidate to manage the full national team, sources said Tuesday. The members of the Japan Football Association's technical committee, which is selecting the successor to Akira ...
JFA chief Kozo Tashima says Jurgen Klinsmann hasn't been contacted about coaching post
Japan Football Association president Kozo Tashima on Tuesday denied reports claiming that the governing body has contacted former Germany and U.S. boss Jurgen Klinsmann regarding its men's national team coaching job. Klinsmann has been named among the list of potential successors to Japan coach Akira ...
Japan to face Costa Rica in international friendly in September
Japan will play Costa Rica in an international friendly in September, the Japan Football Association announced Friday. Japan, currently 61st in the FIFA rankings, will battle 23rd-ranked Costa Rica on Sept. 11 at Panasonic Stadium Suita in Osaka Prefecture. Costa Rica reached the quarterfinals of the ...
Knee injury rules midfielder Toshihiro Aoyama out of World Cup
Sanfrecce Hiroshima defensive midfielder Toshihiro Aoyama has been ruled out of the World Cup starting next month in Russia because of a right knee injury, the Japan Football Association said Thursday. Aoyama, who complained of knee pain following Sanfrecce's 2-0 loss to Cerezo Osaka on ...
