When Japan last won the AFC Asian Cup in 2011, they looked destined for a prolonged period of dominance on the continental stage.

They had just claimed a record-breaking fourth title with a talented yet youthful squad — without a single player over the age of 30.

Emerging talents Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa were just 24 and 21 but both already plying their trade for CSKA Moscow and Borussia Dortmund respectively, while other Europe-based names such as Yuto Nagatomo, Atsuto Uchida and even captain Makoto Hasebe were all in their early to mid-twenties.

Somehow, in the 13 years since, Japan are yet to add another Asian Cup to their trophy cabinet.

Those names have long disappeared from the Samurai Blue setup, either through retirement or being gradually phased out.

A new generation has been ushered in to deliver the coveted prize that has curiously eluded the Japanese at the past two editions of the Asian Cup: a fifth continental crown.

At first glance, this current Samurai Blue iteration may look raw given the most senior member of Hajime Moriyasu’s 26-man squad — captain Wataru Endo — has just 55 caps to his name, with only two others surpassing the half-century mark.

But numbers can be rather deceiving.

22-year-old wizard Takefusa Kubo has spent almost the entirety of his career playing regular first-team football in Europe, while livewire Kaoru Mitoma has been something of a late bloomer but is now established as a legitimate star of the Premier League with Brighton.

A total of 20 players that will be representing Japan at the Asian Cup are currently based in Europe, including Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, ex-Liverpool man Takumi Minamino and Bundesliga veteran Takuma Asano.

Even if Moriyasu did find himself on the receiving end of some criticism at the last FIFA World Cup for a perceived overly-defensive approach, he did mastermind stunning victories over Germany and Spain to lead his side to the knockout round — where they were only eliminated via the heartbreak of a penalty shootout loss to the heavily-fancied Croatia, who were after all runners-up in the 2018 edition.

Since then, however, Japan’s form has been nothing short of outstanding even if most of their commitments in the last year have been friendlies.

Having failed to win their first two matches immediately after the World Cup, the Samurai Blue have since racked up ten consecutive wins.

There was a shock 4-1 triumph over Germany in Wolfsburg, while a 5-0 win away to Syria in a competitive fixture — the second round of Asian qualifiers for the next World Cup — was equally impressive.

From those ten outings, they have scored a staggering 45 goals while conceding just six, highlighting that perhaps the once-cautious Moriyasu is now ready to release the shackles on his charges.

Perhaps the biggest question mark over Japan is in goal, with a changing of the guard between the posts taking place over the past 12 months or so.

With just four caps, Zion Suzuki has the most experience from the three goalkeepers at Moriyasu’s disposal.

A fellow 21-year-old in Taishi Brandon Nozawa is yet to make his international bow and is likely to be the third choice, while the oldest of the trio in Daiya Maekawa only won his first cap earlier this month.

While Japan used to be able to call upon the reliable Eiji Kawashima or Shuichi Gonda, there is an element of uncertainty over how their current custodians will fare on the big stage — even if Maekawa and Suzuki are there on merit based on their performances at club level.

Still, Japan will head into this tournament as powerhouses rather than the underdogs that they were at the World Cup.

They will head into each of their Group D matches against Vietnam, Iraq and Indonesia as favourites, and will continue to be fancied regardless of who they come up against if and when they get to the knockout stages.

Yet, recent history has shown that reputations count for nothing at a major tournament.

It did not at the 2015 edition when they lost on penalties to United Arab Emirates in the quarterfinals, and again in 2019 when they were comprehensively beaten in the final by Qatar — who had up till that point never won the Asian Cup.

Where the previous stellar generation failed, it is now down to the new wave of Japanese talent to go on and capture a fifth continental title they have now been waiting a while for.