Australia–Japan football rivalry
The Australia–Japan football rivalry is a sports rivalry that exists between the national association football teams of each country, regarded as one of Asia's biggest football rivalries. The rivalry is a relatively recent one, born from a number of highly competitive matches between the two teams since Australia joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006. The two teams have played each other in several significant matches, including a World Cup group stage match and the 2011 Asian Cup Final.
Tetsuro Kiyooka
Kiyooka firmly believed that the Japan national football team needed players who had experiences playing for clubs in European leagues to develop the national team. In 2006, he passed the FIFA Players' Agent exam and registered with The Football Association (England), the Royal Dutch Football Association (Netherlands) and the Japan Football Association as an official agent. After that, he represented top Japanese players such as Keisuke Honda, Maya Yoshida and led them to the football clubs in European leagues.