20 Mar 2003(Thu)

It was very interesting to read through Japan's under-22 squad for the April 1 friendly against Costa Rica at Toyota Stadium in Aichi prefecture.

Of the 23 players named by head coach Masakuni Yamamoto, 22 of them belonged to J.League clubs.

Only one, midfielder Yuhei Tokunaga, was a student, from Waseda University.

I think this statistic shows the reason why Japanese football is improving so much at the highest level.

A few years ago, an under-22 team representing Japan would have been drawn almost entirely from university teams.

Just look at some of the top players in the J.League, or players who have retired recently.

Masami Ihara, Japan's 1998 World Cup captain, was at Tsukuba University, as was Jubilo Iwata goal machine Masashi Nakayama.

Jubilo's other experienced players such as Toshihiro Hattori (Tokai University), Hiroshi Nanami (Juntendo University) and Toshiya Fujita (Tsukuba University) all entered the professional ranks at a late stage.

Around the world it is very rare for a player to attend university and then be signed by a professional club.

In England, for example, a player can sign "schoolboy forms" with a professional club at the age of 14, and then join as apprentice professionals at the age of 16. When they are 17 they become professional players.

People go to university in England to benefit their career, but these careers do not include professional football. Clubs would not be interested in signing someone from university because they would feel he is five years behind a player who joined a club at 16 in terms of professional training and tactical knowledge.

High school-university-football club was the normal career path in Japan, so it is easy to see why Japan did not qualify for the World Cup until 1998.

Their players were behind other countries because they lacked this professional environment. In this aspect, the J.League has provided the perfect base for a player to join from high school and progress up the ladder.

There are still exceptions, as we discovered when Zico announced his squad to travel to the United States.

Teruaki Kurobe thoroughly deserves his chance for the part he has played in the rise of Kyoto Purple Sanga from J2 to Emperor's Cup winners.

Kurobe, too, was a late starter, having attended Fukuoka University. He joined Kyoto in 2000 and made his professional debut shortly after his 22nd birthday.

This is extremely late in professional football, but three years later Kurobe is in the national squad.

In the pre-J.League days, players did not have this professional set-up, which is why so many of the senior players have university backgrounds. Another one that springs to mind is Naoki Soma, who went to Waseda.

Now it's the turn of Tokunaga.

But there will not be many more in the future.

ends