The Future of the Japanese National Team Supported by the New Trend of Players Transferring Overseas without Going through the J-League

With the advancement of technology, we are now in a situation where we can watch match videos from all over the world, and there are systems that allow us to check information on players as quickly as possible, so that nowadays the barriers between borders and continents are disappearing. This means that opportunities are open to everyone. The number of agents supporting players is increasing and their networks are expanding, and players such as Chase Henry and Shi-Oh Fukuda are beginning to be bought out of the blue even as high school students.

There are even players like Kubo Takefusa (22, Real Sociedad), who spent his youth in the FC Barcelona organization, was educated there, and has excellent Spanish language skills. It is no exaggeration to say that Japanese soccer has fully entered the global soccer market.

J clubs have also accepted this trend and are becoming more conscious of the need to earn money by selling players overseas. 20 or so years ago, they would have said, “We will bring up our best players and win titles. However, now it is no longer possible to pursue only the success of the club . Many J clubs are struggling with the difficult problem of “player exodus,” but it is certain that the more players that go out to the world, the higher the level of Japanese soccer will rise. While acknowledging this, it is important to focus on the wisdom of strengthening player development and establishing an attractive J-League.

Looking at the 26 members of Japan’s national team for the 2010 World Cup in Qatar, 19 were from overseas and seven were from Japan, but three years from now, at the 2014 World Cup in North and Central America, all members may be from overseas. Hajime Moriyasu, 55, emphasizes that “all of the overseas players originally played in the J-League,” and he continues to visit the J-League every week, but more and more players will play in the J-League for several years or go to Europe without going through the J-League. This will make it more difficult to conduct national team activities in Japan. In the near future, it may become the norm for Japan’s national team to train in Europe.

We will continue to carefully watch the future of Japanese players in the near future.