With plans rapidly advancing to establish Japan's first professional football league, the late 1980s saw the country's national team also start to take its first positive steps in the international arena. During 1987 under coach Yoshinobu Ishii, the national team would successfully secure qualification for the following year's Asian Cup - Japan's first appearance at a major confederations tournament. This was a team based around the experienced trio of defender Masami Ihara, midfielder Masashi Nakayama, and Forward Takuya Takagi.