Japan at the Copa América

The Copa América is South America's major tournament in senior men's football and determines the continental champion.

In 1999, two out of three Japanese goals were scored by Wagner Lopes, who was born in South America and only naturalized two years prior.

[2] In 2019, head coach Hajime Moriyasu called up a squad consisting mostly of uncapped players under 23 years of age in preparation for the 2020 Summer Olympics hosted in Japan.

This decision was considered as a lack of respect, a concern voiced by Venezuelan coach Rafael Dudamel among others.

Just like at the 1998 FIFA World Cup one year prior, the national squad only consisted of players from the J1 League.

Brazilian-born striker Wagner Lopes played in Japan for ten year before gaining Japanese citizenship in 1997. At the Copa América two years later, he scored two goals in three matches.
Shoji Jo (here in 2010) was Lopes' partner in the Japanese offense.