In 2002, the football World Cup Finals will be in Asia for the first time. The eyes of the world will be on Japan and South Korea, the host countries. Japan has spent a lot of money on football in the last few years. Ten years ago there was no professional football in the country. In 2002, it wants to be one of the top 16 teams in the world. Is this possible in only a few years? And what will happen if they fail?

The first Japanese Football League started in 1965. It had only eight teams, and was not professional. Japan won the 1992 Asian Cup, and the J-League started. This was Japan's first professional league. It was an immediate success. Some people were surprised. In May 1993, more than 59,000 people watched the first game between Verdy Kawasaki and Yokohama Marinos at Tokyo's National Stadium. The J-League was very rich, and its best players earned a lot of money. Foreign football stars – Gary Lineker from England, Dragan Stoikovic from Yugoslavia and Leonardo from Brazil – came to play in the J-League.

Young Japanese footballers learnt a lot from these top international stars. Some of them became stars themselves. In France 1998, 21-year-old Hidetoshi Nakata was the star of the team. This was Japan's first World Cup Finals, and they played well. They lost by only 1-0 to Argentina, one of the best teams in the world. But they still finished without a win. After the World Cup, they chose a new manager. Philippe Troussier, a Frenchman, took Japan to the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. Again, the team played very well, beating Slovakia and South Africa. They reached the last eight but lost to the USA on penalties. Nakata missed the important penalty!

2002 will be the most important year in the history of Japanese football. Japanese football fans badly want success. Hidetoshi Nakata is now a world star. He plays for Roma in Italy. 'We will reach the last 16 in the World Cup,' he promises. The fans hope so. A World Cup host country has never lost all its games. They don't want Japan to be the first! They will feel embarrassed if that happens. They will probably lose all interest in the football, and the J-League will become less popular. But if Japan, with Nakata's help, win one or two games, they will reach the last 16. Then the country will celebrate.

And then – who knows? – maybe four years later Japan will be ready to beat Brazil!