Confederations Cup 2013: Players to watch (Part 1)

Japan

Keisuke Honda, CSKA Moscow (Attacking Midfielder)

Japan became the first nation to qualify for Brazil 2014 after Honda converted an injury time penalty against Australia to earn a 1-1 draw for his team. He has had an injury-riddled season, but is one of the main stars in this Japanese team. He plays in that central attacking midfielder’s role and sometimes even behind the main striker. Honda is a great dribbler and very good from set piece situations, especially his superb free-kicks. He has 14 goals in 42 appearances for Japan with 5 of them coming in the qualification campaign for next year’s World Cup.

Shinji Okazaki, Vfb Stuttgart (Forward)

The Japanese front man has been in good form for the ‘Blue Samurais’ in 2013 with 4 goals from 5 games; he has 8 overall in the World Cup 2014 qualifiers. Okazaki is a prolific goal scorer at national level with 33 goals in his 63 appearances overall. He picked up a runners-up medal in the DFB Pokal Cup where Stuttgart were beaten 3-2 by Bayern Munich.

Yasuhito Endo, Gamba Osaka (Central midfielder)

Endo is one of the most long standing icons of Japanese football. Now 33, he is been around on the international scene for almost 12 years. Widely revered as one of the most creative players of his generation, Endo has exceptional passing ability and is great with free-kicks. Along with Honda, the duo will pose a threat to all opponents from set pieces. Also, as a veteran in the game, he brings a calming influence to the Japanese team.