Japan national football team
The Japanese team is commonly known by the fans and media as , , or as abbreviated expressions. Although the team does not have an official nickname as such, it is often known by the name of the manager. For example, under Takeshi Okada, the team was known as . Recently, the team has been known or nicknamed as the "Samurai Blue", while Japanese news media during the 2018 FIFA World Cup still referred it to by the recently departed manager's (Akira Nishino) last name, as .
2013 Japan national football team
The Japan national football team in 2013, managed by head coach Alberto Zaccheroni, competed in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup and the fourth round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, in amongst international friendly matches both at home and abroad, as they progress towards the 2014 FIFA World Cup.