Japan believe they have cracked the code to becoming a football superpower and it has everything to do with joy. Four years ago the JFA released a manifesto outlining exactly how they plan to win the World Cup by 2050. As hosts, no less.
The strategy is filled with the familiar ingredients of pyramid graphics and bullet points, mentions of synergy and talent identification, but the headline that sets The Japan Way apart arrives on the first page.
“To become the happiest country in the world through football.”
It is an outcome so fantastical that most first-time readers of the 58-page blueprint will stifle a smirk but there is a bit more to it than players having a smile on their face – even if that is a very common sight.
The language used throughout is often repetitive and vague. Two of the half dozen keys to their defensive strategy are “play proactively” and have a “proactive mentality.” One of the six tenets to their attacking vision is to “decide the match with getting the goal.”
Yet beneath the LinkedIn labels is the recipe for a front-footed, positive style that is beginning to pay increasingly handsome dividends and force even the most hardened cynic into wondering if they may well be on to something.
Hajime Moriyasu’s team arrived in North America buoyed by beating Brazil and deservedly bettering England at Wembley in friendlies. Against Thomas Tuchel’s rotated team, they were canny, tenacious and ruthless. “Well-drilled,” was Tuchel’s description, though The Japan Way prefers to describe it as “seamless transition in attack and defence.”
In the opening two games of a group that looked difficult even before several key players were ruled out through injury pre-tournament, they have followed the prescription and look well set to advance before a meeting with Sweden in Dallas at 12am BST on Friday.
On and off the ball, the priority is speed. Defending? Pressure fast to win the ball back. Attacking? Use quick thinking and passing to get the forwards into a shooting position in the fewest seconds possible. It is great fun but energy-sapping to watch; it must be equally enjoyable and exhausting to execute.
Deep within the strategy is a breakdown of every position on the pitch and the key characteristics Japan internationals of the future must have. There is also recognition of their present weaknesses – a lack of height compared to many opponents – and proposed solutions to ensure the perception that “Japan as physically weak is a thing of the past.” Speed, in both physical and mental sense, is repeated over and over and over but it is far from a case of pace. “What is more important is ‘when, where, and how to utilise that speed?’”
And while they are benefitting from having a squad with an increasing proportion of players who perform in Europe’s big leagues, there is also recognition of the need to be dynamic and diversify as the game develops and trends shift.
Moriyasu, approaching eight years as head coach having been assistant before that, has built his team into a 3-4-3 with a major emphasis on the wing-backs – yet there is no commitment to a specific formation in the wider strategy and the next manager is free to reshape things once a code of etiquette is adhered to and the principles of speed remains.
“We firmly oppose the stance of pursuing the [idea of] winning at all costs,” their guide to an ideal coach states. “We believe that true victory lies in enhancing the elements necessary to enrich one’s life while striving for success.”
Instead Moriyasu has taken a slightly different approach to how his team is developing. “We are resolved to become better than we are now at all costs and pave the way for the future,” he said before the tournament started. “As winning is important in the world of soccer, we will accumulate wins. In the best scenario, we will grow by winning.”
What success looks like this summer was obvious from the outset. This may be a seventh consecutive World Cup but Japan are yet to win a knockout tie. To reach the last 16 here would represent progress for a team that, alongside Morocco, now appear the most obvious candidate to become the first non-European or South American nation to become world champions.
“We are happy when we find our own way to enjoy playing, watching, or being involved in football. We are happy when we support an attractive national team as they compete on the world stage,” reads the conclusion page of The Japan Way, although the sign-off reiterates how idealism is matched by unwavering ambition.
“We shall join the ranks of nations possessing a rich football culture capable of genuinely aspiring to World Cup victory. We shall consistently be among the favourites in the World Cup title race, nurturing and sharing this joy with ever more people.”
They are not there quite yet but few should be surprised if they reach nirvana.
