Japan’s average age among their 23 players for their sixth consecutive FIFA World Cup is 28.3 years – the oldest since the nation qualified for their first appearance in France 1998 under Takeshi Okada.
Kagawa, now 29 and who narrowly missed the final cut for South Africa 2010 at the age of 21, is being counted on by Nishino to lift Japan out of a tough Group H, which has Colombia, Senegal and Poland, into the knockout stage after collecting just one point in Brazil 2014.
Japan – under former AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus boss Alberto Zaccheroni – played Colombia in their last group game in Brazil, a 4-1 defeat that eliminated them from the tournament.
Four-time Asian champions Japan, who replaced head coach Vahid Halilhodzic with Nishino in April, are determined to make the knockout stage in Russia 2018 and Nishino has made bold decisions.
Nishino, the former AFC Champions League-winning manager with Gamba Osaka in 2008, turned to the veteran likes of Kagawa, Yuto Nagatomo, Shinji Okazaki and Keisuke Honda when naming his squad.
Kagawa pointed to former Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba as an example of how age can still play an important part in a team’s campaign.
In their opener for Brazil 2014, Drogba, then 36, came off the bench in the second half for Ivory Coast to orchestrate a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Kagawa and Japan, who could not find their way back from the defeat and were eliminated in the group phase.
“Not just Drogba four years ago, but if someone like him comes off the bench he can breathe life into a team. It’s what experience can do for you,” the Borussia Dortmund man said in Seefeld, Austria, where Japan are based ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
“(Ivory Coast) found their second wind after an experienced player like him got in midway through the game. So one’s track record and experience count for something, they can definitely help.
“Each and every player won his place fair and square, it was the manager’s decision. We need to be proud of who we are and fight with the team we’ve got,” he said.
Japan open their Group H campaign against Colombia on June 19 followed by Senegal (June 24) and Poland (June 28).
Photo: AFP
