FRANCE 98 – General Media News Template
Takeshi Okada may have nothing to lose when he pilots Japan’s maiden voyage to the World Cup finals with the odds against them. But the new hero of Japanese football is aiming high.
Okada, then an assistant coach, took over from Shu Kamo in October when Japan drew with Kazakhstan in an uphill qualifying tour, mainly because there was nobody else on the spot for their next match against Uzbekistan.
Now, among the 32 World Cup team chiefs gathered in France, there will be nobody else who has never managed a club.
A ticket to France was a great accomplishment in itself, saving Japan from the disgrace of being the first country to stage the World Cup finals without ever qualifying for one. Japan and South Korea co-host the 2002 edition.
With the leading European bookmakers giving Japan the lowest 251-1 chance of winning the Cup, nothing much is expected from them in the first round group with double champions Argentina and two other newcomers, Croatia and Jamaica.
But it doesn’t worry Okada, a 41-year-old who studied politics and economics at Tokyo’s Waseda University.
“There is the possibility of Japan advancing to the second round,” he declared when he was formally picked for France 98 on an eight-month contract, despite the idea of calling in a big name from Europe or South America.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger of France and Dutchman Hans Ooft, who led Japan’s losing qualifying campaign for USA 94, had been among possible candidates.
“It will be difficult for people from abroad to build up a team. I think it would be better if I manage the national side,” said Okada, who won 26 caps as a defender with the Furukawa Denko company team, the predecessors of the J-League JEF United Ichikawa.
Okada took up coaching in 1990 and he studied in Germany in 1992 to gain “mental strength” while battling language and other cultural barriers.
When the 57-year-old Kamo stepped down, Japan’s qualifying chances looked dim with one win, two draws and a crucial home defeat by South Korea to their name, a string of poor shows largely blamed on his overly defensive game.But Okada, who had been Kamo’s assistant since 1994, turned around Japan’s fortunes with bold substitutions. He scored three wins and two draws, including a 3-2 victory over Iran in a nail-biting playoff for Asia’s third berth.