Japan, along with all the other Asian qualifiers for FIFA World Cup Germany 2006, have been placed in Pot 4 following FIFA’s seeding announcement on Tuesday. Joining Japan, Iran, South Korea and Saudi Arabia will be three teams from CONCACAF – Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States of America - in the seven team pot.

The seedings are based on FIFA’s rankings over the last three years and the results of the teams in the last two World Cup Finals. For the allocations to specific pots FIFA considered geographical locations to avoid two teams from the same continent being drawn against each other – with the exception of Europe, which is permitted up to two teams per group.

Jim Brown, FIFA’s Director of Competition explained how the committee decided to put the Asian and CONCACAF teams in the same pot because “these two continents have played for a half slot and made them comfortable to be in the same pot.”

As preparation for the finals, Japan has announced a friendly to be played against the United States. The match will take place at the SBC Park Stadium in San Francisco on February 10, with the kick off at 8pm local time. Prior to the game in America the Japanese, coached by Brazilian legend Zico, will begin their preparations for the finals with a training camp in late January.

The winners of the 2004 AFC Asian Cup will be going to the United States in buoyant mood. Following their impressive performances at last summer’s FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany, they were recently named Asian Football Confederation Team of the Year at a gala event in Kuala Lumpur. At the same ceremony Japan Football Association president Saburo Kawabuchi was awarded the Diamond of Asia prize in recognition of his contributions to the development and promotion of football in Japan and Asia.

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