Following a turbulent year that brought joy and heartbreak, Japan's senior men's soccer team will head to the Asian Cup full of optimism, with a new core of emerging players.

The Samurai Blue will kick off the Jan. 5 to Feb. 1 tournament in the United Arab Emirates as one of the favorites following a vastly more positive buildup than this summer's World Cup in Russia.

The team is undefeated in five matches under new manager Hajime Moriyasu, an assistant to predecessor Akira Nishino in Russia, and has played an engaging brand of football centered on an attacking trio left out of the World Cup squad.

Top performers for their respective clubs, Portimonense playmaker Shoya Nakajima, Salzburg attacker Takumi Minamino and Groningen midfielder Ritsu Doan gave the most tantalizing show of their potential so far in a 4-3 win over Uruguay at Saitama Stadium in October.

(Shoya Nakajima (L) and Takumi Minamino)

Blending with more experienced squad members including Marseille wing-back Hiroki Sakai and Werder Bremen striker Yuya Osako, the three helped the Samurai Blue dominate the South Americans for much of the international friendly.

Defensive stalwart Maya Yoshida called the match -- his first as captain of the new-look Samurai Blue -- "a historic victory."

The high spirits surrounding the squad are in marked contrast to the atmosphere ahead of the World Cup, when Japan hit a slump after securing qualification.

With manager Vahid Halilhodzic having fallen out with a number of senior players, the Japan Football Association took the surprising step of firing the Bosnian, who had previously led Algeria to the World Cup round of 16.

Halilhodzic had tried unsuccessfully to shake up the old order centered on veterans Keisuke Honda, Shinji Okazaki and Shinji Kagawa, but with the situation at an impasse, the JFA sided with the players.

With former JFA technical director Nishino filling the breach, Japan's oldest-ever World Cup squad was given long odds of advancing beyond a tough Group H containing Colombia, Senegal and Poland.

But the JFA's decision to replace Halilhodzic was soon vindicated when Japan opened the tournament with a 2-1 victory over 10-man Colombia in Saransk, with Kagawa and Honda making crucial contributions.

(L-R Gaku Shibasaki, Keisuke Honda and Yuya Osako)

The Samurai Blue eventually advanced from the group following a hard-fought 2-2 draw with Senegal and anticlimactic 1-0 loss to Poland.

Honda once again played a critical role as he scored the equalizer off the bench against Senegal, while the relatively unheralded Takashi Inui seized his moment on the biggest stage with Japan's opening goal against the Africans.

Japan earned criticism for settling for the loss against the already-eliminated Poles, knowing the 1-0 score would be good enough to advance ahead of Senegal -- with whom they shared identical points, goal difference, and total goals -- by virtue of having fewer bookings in the group stage.

But any lingering distaste about the manner in which they became the first team in World Cup history to advance on the so-called "fair play tiebreaker" was washed away in a thrilling round-of 16 battle with Belgium.

After startling the world No. 3 (now No. 1) side by taking a 2-0 lead through Genki Haraguchi and Inui early in the second half at Rostov Arena, the Samurai Blue were eventually beaten 3-2 when substitute Nacer Chadli scored a stunning last-gasp winner for Belgium, who went on to reach the semifinals.

(Genki Haraguchi (C))

Despite the "devastating" loss, Nishino and his men returned home to a warm welcome and wide praise for their performance in Russia.

The manager, who stepped down after the World Cup, was reluctant to call the tournament a success, saying such a judgement would hinge on the team's future progress.


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"Whether we can build on this for the next tournament is very important," Nishino said. "Four years from now, we'd like to look back on this tournament and call it a success."

The international retirement of longtime captain Makoto Hasebe and Honda following the tournament signaled the end of an era. Though Honda later said he would seek selection as an overage player for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games under-23 side, his absence left the Samurai Blue without one of their strongest voices in the locker room.

While Yoshida and fellow veterans such as Yuto Nagatomo look set to continue providing vocal leadership, Moriyasu made generational change a clear priority with his selection of the Asian Cup squad.

(Maya Yoshida)

After struggling for playing time with their respective clubs, longtime Samurai Blue fixtures Kagawa and Okazaki were omitted from the 23-man squad.

Addressing the omissions at the squad announcement, Moriyasu underscored his confidence in his selections, including several J-League players, a number of whom lacked international experience.

"While we have selected many inexperienced players this time, they strongly feel they can build a new national side and fight for the title. I picked the team with this in mind," Moriyasu said.

The encouraging performances under the new coach, along with their relative strength among regional opposition, mean the Samurai Blue will face heightened expectations when they kick off their Asian Cup campaign against Turkmenistan in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 9.

While they look certain to advance from a Group F also including Uzbekistan and Oman, anything short of the trophy Japan last captured in 2011 will be considered a failure, according to Moriyasu.

"We weren't able to win the tournament last time around. This time, we want to take back the title and bring home the Asian Cup," he said.