1998 Kirin Cup

Kirin Cup 1998

(Japan, Paraguay, Czech Republic)

The 1998 Kirin Cup featured Japan, Paraguay and the Czech Republic. In the opening game in Tokyo on 17 May 1998 a late goal from Naoki Soma cancelled out an early goal from Celso Ayala to secure a 1-1 draw for Japan against Paraguay. In the second game in Kobe on 21 May the Czech Republic defeated Paraguay 1-0 with a goal from Vladimir Smicer. In the final game in Yokohama on 24 May the Czech Republic held Japan to a 0-0 draw in front of nearly 67,000 supporters to win the 1998 Kirin Cup.

The official 1998 Kirin Cup programme has 60 x glossy colour A4 pages and is in Japanese. The programme includes the list of fixtures and details of the competing national teams squads with small photos of each of their players. There are special articles on all three national teams and on their star players (with large colour photos) including Hidetoshi Nakata of Japan, Jose Luis Chilavert of Paraguay and Karel Poborsky of the Czech Republic amongst others. There are details of the Japan and USA Woman's National Team Squads who were playing each other ahead of the Kirin Cup games involving Japan in Tokyo and Yokohama. Finally there are details of previous Kirin Cup Tournaments.

Ticket 2 - Japan v Paraguay