Thursday, 28 March 2024


 

Japan's National Team: 2014-15

In 2015, following a semifinal exit in the Asian Cup, Japan decided to terminate the contract of Coach Javier Agguire, who was under a cloud of controversy over a match-fixing scandal in Spain. The timing was awkward, and there were not many top candidates, but at the suggestion of former NT coach Ivica Osim, the JFA appointed Vahid Halilhodzic to take over as NT boss.

Halilhodzic inherited a lot of talent, with players like Keisuke Honda , Shinji Kagawa and Shinji Okazaki just hitting the prime of their careers. Yet something never quite clicked in the relationship between Japanese football and coach Halilhodzic. Japan managed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup earlier than any other team except Russia, the hosts. And yet, the content of the Samurai Blue's performances under "Coach Halil" was so underwhelming that the JFA decided to terminate his contract before the World Cup began.

Akira Nishino would take over the helm, and lead his team to the round of 16 at the Russia World Cup. Unfortunately for Halilhodzic, he would be relegated to little more than a footnote in Japan's NT history, despite a fairly "successful" three-year stint in the job.


Japan Nat'l Team 2015-18

Date Venue Score Opponent Goals by . . .
Mar 27, 2015 Oita Dome, Japan 2 - 0 Tunisia --
Mar 31, 2015 Ajinomoto Stadium 5 - 1 Uzbekistan --
June 11, 2015 Yokohama Int'l Stadium 4 - 0 Iraq --
June 16, 2015 Saitama Stadium 0 - 0 Singapore --
Aug 2, 2015 Wuhan Stadium, China 1 - 2 North Korea --
Aug 5, 2015 Wuhan Stadium, China 1 - 1 South Korea --
Aug 9, 2015 Wuhan Stadium, China 1 - 1 China --
Sep 3, 2015 Saitama Stadium 3 - 0 Cambodia --
Xxx 1, 2015 Seeb Stadium, Oman 3 - 0 Syria --
Oct 13, 2015 Azadi Stadium, Iran 1 - 1 Iran --
Nov 12, 2015 Nat'l Stadium, Singapore 3 - 0 Singapore --
Nov 17, 2015 Pnom Penh, Cambodia 2 - 0 Cambodia --
Mar 24, 2016 Saitama Stadium 5 - 0 Afghanistan --
Mar 29, 2016 Saitama Stadium 5 - 0  Syria --
June 3, 2016 Toyoda Stadium 7 - 2 Bulgaria --
June 7, 2016 Suita Stadium 1 - 2 Bosnia --
Sep 1, 2016 Saitama Stadium 1 - 2 UAE --
Sep 6, 2016 Bangkok, Thailand 2 - 0 Thailand --
Oct 6, 2016 Saitama Stadium 2 - 1 Iraq --
Oct 11, 2016 Melbourne, Australia 1 - 1 Australia --
Nov 11, 2016 Kashima Soccer Stadium 4 - 0 Oman --
Nov 15, 2016 Saitama Stadium 2 - 1 Saudi Arabia --
Mar 23, 2017 Abu Dhabi, UAE 2 - 0 UAE --
Mar 28, 2017 Saitama Stadium 4 - 0 Thailand --
June 7, 2017 Ajinomoto Stadium 1 - 1 Syria --
June 13, 2017 Tehran, Iran 1 - 1 Iraq --
Aug 31, 2017 Saitama Stadium 2 - 0 Australia --
Sep 5, 2017 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 0 - 1 Saudi Arabia --
Oct 6, 2017 Toyota Stadium 2 - 1 New Zealand --
Oct 10, 2017 Saitama Stadium 3 - 3 Haiti --