THE VITALS:

Team: Japan

Brand: Adidas

Era: 2008-09 (Used for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Campaign, and the 2011 AFC Asian Cup Qualifying Campaign)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This very rare shirt comes in excellent condition; as good as any you will find in circulation currently.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Medium

Pit to Pit Measurement: 19 inches

Shirt Length: 31.5 inches

Made in the Adidas ‘ClimaCool’ mould introduced ahead of the 2008-09 season; these shirts were notoriously baggy and could easily fit someone who would wear a size large.

DESCRIPTION: 

After a series of royal blue/navy shirts; Adidas went left-field for this Japan shirt; utilising a lighter, azure shade of blue, complimented with yellow rather than the classic white. This rare shirt would utilise the yellow to create a rising sun pattern to create yet another wonderful and unique to design to be added to classic JapanxAdidas pantheon of shirts!

THE SEASON:

Japan started 2008 with a draw with Chile, before concluding the Kirin Challenge Cup with a 3-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. A fine 2008 calendar would see ‘The Samurai Blue’ claim wins over the Ivory Coast, as well as progress significantly in their road to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, as they reached the 4^th round of the AFC Qualifiers. 2009 would begin Japan defeating Yemen 2-1 to start their qualification for 2011 AFC Asian Cup. 2009 would see the nation win 4 in a row, defeating: Bahrain, Chile, Belgium and Uzbekistan, and would end put together another 4 match winning run over: Ghana, Hong Kong, Scotland and Togo; the latter, a 5-0 hammering over the African nation in the 2009 Kirin Challenge Cup, would be the last time this shirt would be used.   

The notable players that season(s) were:

Keiji Tamada, Shinji Okazaki, Yoshito Okubu, Atsushi Yanigasawa, Naohiro Takahara, Shunsuke Nakamura, Daisuke Matsui, Yuki Abe, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Yasuhito Endo, Kengo Nakamura, Keisuke Honda, Makoto Hasebe, Yuto Nagatomo, Yasuyuki Konno, Koji Nakata, Yuichi Komano, Yuji Nakazawa, Atsuto Uchida, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Seigo Narazaki, Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi