Japan national football team
Japan is the first team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América, having been invited in both 1999 and 2011. However, Japan declined their invitation on 16 May 2011, after events related to the difficulty of releasing some Japanese players from European teams to play as replacements. On 17 May 2011, CONMEBOL invited Costa Rica to replace Japan in the competition; the Costa Rican Football Federation accepted their invitation later that day.
2011 Japan national football team
The Japan national football team in 2011, managed by head coach Alberto Zaccheroni, began by competing and winning the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. The win meant Japan were crowned the Champions of Asia for a record 4th time and earned a berth in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. The team would continue by competing in the 2011 Kirin Cup and the 2011 Copa América in amongst other international friendly matches before closing out 2011 by commencing in the third round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification as they progress towards the 2014 FIFA World Cup.