Troussier set to take on ‘old employers’

When four-time AFC Asian Cup winners Japan take on Vietnam at Al Thumama Stadium today, the Samurai Blue will come face to face with a man who played a key role in their rise on the global stage.
Philippe Troussier guided the East Asians to their second continental title as Japan beat Saudi Arabia in Beirut to win the 2000 AFC Asian Cup, before he went on to steer them into the knockout rounds of the FIFA World Cup on home soil for the first time.
Fast forward 22 years and the French tactician leads Vietnam into the AFC Asian Cup and, as fate would have it, the Golden Star Warriors’ opening game is against Japan as Troussier and his team – who faced the Samurai Blue in the 2019 quarter-finals – get set to meet again.
Japan had already won an AFC Asian Cup title (1992) by the time Troussier took over following their maiden FIFA World Cup appearance in 1998, but there’s little doubt he took the East Asians to the next level.
With stars such as Hiroshi Nanami and Naohiro Takahara, as well as young talent including Shunsuke Nakamura and Shinji Ono, he masterminded a second continental crown with a win over the Saudis in 2000.
A year later, Troussier’s Japan impressed at a global level when, in the build-up to the co-hosted 2002 FIFA World Cup – the first to be staged in Asia – the Samurai Blue finished runners-up to France at the FIFA Confederations Cup having beaten Cameroon, Canada and Australia, as well as claiming a commendable draw against Brazil, en route to the final.
Then, with all eyes on Japan and Korea Republic in 2002, Troussier’s team created more history. With the likes of the great Hidetoshi Nakata and Junichi Inamoto coming to the fore, a first FIFA World Cup victory – over Russia, followed by a win over Tunisia – and an unbeaten group stage saw the Japanese reach the knockout rounds as football fever gripped the nation.
Japan ultimately fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat against Turkey, who went on to finish third, in the last 16 as they exited with heads held high.
Troussier departed soon after, having created a team that raised the profile of football across the country and inspired a generation of youngsters who would help Japan go from strength to strength over the next two decades.
The well-travelled head coach has managed in Asia, Africa and Europe in the years since leaving Japan and, having worked in Vietnam’s youth set-up, he took over the senior team from the hugely successful Park Hang-seo in early 2023. While Troussier has not faced Japan since stepping down, the Golden Star Warriors have plenty of recent history against the Samurai Blue.
Having been beaten 4-1 in Hanoi by a Japan side that featured several of Troussier’s players in the co-hosted 2007 AFC Asian Cup, they met again on Vietnam’s next appearance in the continental competition.
Under head coach Park, Vietnam boasted a golden generation that had shone at the AFC’s youth level tournaments and won the AFF (Asean Football Federation) Cup in 2018.
Vietnam progressed from their group and, after edging Jordan on penalties in the last 16, lined up against the Japanese once more in the quarter-finals. Only a Ritsu Doan penalty separated the sides as Japan advanced 1-0 while Vietnam exited having shown that they could go toe-to-toe with the continent’s best sides.
Since then, Japan and Vietnam have faced off on two further occasions after the Vietnamese progressed to the final round of the Asian Qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup for the first time. Drawn in the same group, Japan claimed a hard-fought 1-0 win in Hanoi before Vietnam secured a commendable 1-1 draw at Saitama Stadium.