Following a solid performance on his World Cup debut, Kashima Antlers center back Gen Shoji hopes to inspire other J-League players to set their sights on the national team, the 25-year-old said Thursday.

The sole J-League player in the Samurai Blue starting 11, Shoji played the full 90 minutes in Japan's 2-1 victory over Colombia in Saransk on Tuesday.

Head coach Akira Nishino's decision to start the World Cup debutant alongside Maya Yoshida in central defense came as something of a surprise, with most pundits tipping the more experienced Tomoaki Makino for the role.

(Shoji (C) celebrates after Japan stun Colombia)

Being the only J-League player in the starting lineup was barely an afterthought, however, according to Shoji, who also said he was not particularly nervous before the game despite the big names lining up against him at Mordovia Arena.

"I was actually more nervous before playing Australia," he said, referring to the qualifying match last August in which Japan clinched its World Cup berth with a 2-0 victory.

"The day before that game I was feeling some nerves. In comparison, this time I wasn't that tense. But being the (lone) J-League player wasn't something that was on my mind."

"I never thought I was carrying the hopes of the J-League. Even if it wasn't me (Urawa Reds defender) Makino would have been picked, so it didn't really matter."

(Shoji and Radamel Falcao of Colombia vie for the ball during the second half of Japan's famous win Saransk)

The Kobe native nevertheless said he hoped fellow domestic league players watching from Japan would take encouragement from his showing on the sport's biggest stage.

"I was not overly satisfied with the way I played. But if other J-League players saw me and thought, 'If Shoji can do it, I can do it,' than I'll be happy," said the defender, who debuted for the national team in 2015 under Nishino's predecessor Vahid Halilhodzic.

Whether or not Nishino once again picks Shoji ahead of Makino for Japan's second Group H match against Senegal on Sunday, the Antlers defender said both he and his fellow domestic league player were equally capable.

"The plays that I made in the (Colombia) game weren't anything Makino isn't capable of. I have my strengths, he has his, but whichever of us was picked would've done the job," he said.