AFC - As Japan celebrate a record fourth continental title with an extra-time victory over Australia in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™ final, Philippe Troussier reflects on leading the Samurai Blue to glory in 2000.
At that AFC Asian Cup in Lebanon, a new generation of Japanese players burst onto the continental scene in spectacular fashion, dazzling the region with a series of performances that left no doubt that the balance of power was shifting east.
Victories over Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Iraq were as comprehensive as they were spectacular and the Philippe Troussier-coached side eventually marched to the title, defeating the Saudis in the final in Beirut as Japan claimed the AFC Asian Cup for a second time.
Within two years, many within the team would be household names across Asia as the likes of Junichi Inamoto, Shinji Ono and Naohiro Takahara led the way as Japan reached the second round of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
But while the performance at the co-hosted FIFA World Cup impressed two years later, the win at the AFC Asian Cup was a key milestone on the way towards that run towards the last 16 in Korea/Japan.
“I was lucky to find a very beautiful generation, especially as I called it at the time ‘The J.League Generation’,” Troussier told
www.afcasiancup.com.
“These young players were in contact with many foreign players, it was the beginning of the J.League in 1993, when they built the league, and the first strategy was to invite some foreign coaches and players, leaders from abroad like Gary Lineker and Dunga. This idea influenced the youngsters.
“My generation, with Shunsuke Nakamura, Junichi Inamoto, Naohiro Takahara, Shinji Ono, this talented generation was in contact with this process and it is one of the reasons why this team was so good from a technical aspect and from a tactical aspect.”
The Japanese arrived in Lebanon midway through this process and on the way to the FIFA World Cup finals, which the country was co-hosting with Korea Republic.
Troussier had been appointed two years earlier and, in addition to working with the national team, was handed the reins of the country’s highly promising under 20 team as well as the Olympic side.
After leading the nation to the final of the World Youth Championship in Nigeria in 1999, the Frenchman steered Japan to the quarter-finals of the Sydney Olympic Games before embarking on the final preparations for the pursuit of a second AFC Asian Cup title in three tournaments.
“It was a young team and I have a very good memory of it because we played all the matches without conflict,” says Troussier.
“I remember at the World Youth Championship after the matches I was completely tired because I had to take control of the whole process because we were at the beginning.
“But in 2000, I was completely Zen. Why? Because we played the Olympic Games before and there were a lot of players who went from the Olympics to the Asian Cup. It was my plan to improve the potential of the team step-by-step.
“We wanted to teach them, to build on their potential but also to give them some experiences, positive or negative. I wanted to increase their experience of playing in big events and in my process it was necessary to play in the Asian Cup and also have some players from the Olympic team.
“When I played at the Asian Cup it was about building. Of course, we wanted to do our best and to win but the main aim was to build.
“I had two tasks: the first was to get results but the second was to give experience to the players. It’s not so easy to assemble the two plans because not everyone cares about building the team; you have get results.”
The results soon followed, however. Japan defeated Saudi Arabia 4-1, Uzbekistan fell to an 8-1 defeat while Qatar managed to secure a 1-1 draw that left Japan top of their group in the opening round.
From there, Iraq were dealt a 4-1 loss in the quarter-finals before victory over China in the semi-finals set up a rematch in the final with Saudi Arabia, a game the Japanese won 1-0 thanks to a solitary goal from Shigeyoshi Mochizuki.
And while the desire to win the title existed within the team from the beginning of tournament, there was one incident in particular that ensured Troussier coveted the famous old trophy.
“It was a funny situation because I was with my wife, she went with us to Beirut,” he recalls.
“Ten days or so before the final, it was a Sunday and I visited Beirut and there, in a shop window, was the Asian Cup, It was there.
“And with my wife I saw the Asian Cup and so this cup was in my mind. Usually I’m working to get the title but this was the first time to feel that it was necessary to get the cup.
“Of course, I wanted to give experience to the players and it was part of the process to build for the World Cup and I was like a teacher and I was explaining everything to the players, many small details to educate them.
“But then I also decided to collect the cup. It was now in my mind.”
Troussier’s determination was transferred to his players and, ultimately, it paid off, both in the short term and further down the road.
“I was sure this Asian Cup would be very important for the future and after that the success is coming from luck, from work and from many things,” he says.
“We got the Cup, we had a good tournament, we had the best players, the best team and the best attack, the best defence.
“It was important for us to be champions of Asia. We were organising the World Cup, we needed a representation and to be the kings of Asia for me was necessary because after the Asian Cup immediately I understood to be Asian champions that you a have the key to the world.
“When we were Asian champions, we started a second process and the process to be Asian champions is not the same to be world champion and after the Asian Cup I discovered another situation.”
That realisation saw Troussier and his team take a new approach, invigorated by the confidence instilled in them by their AFC Asian Cup win.
The results in the years that followed – earning a place in the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2001 and reaching the second round of the FIFA World Cup in 2002, speak for themselves.
