Oiwa, who turns 54 in June, has achieved much success since retiring as a player in 2010 and moving into coaching.

Having seen his side suffer a premature exit in the 2022 edition, Oiwa led his Young Samurai Blue squad to the trophy two years ago, with Japan defeating Uzbekistan in the final.

Having started his playing career with Nagoya Grampus Eight in the mid 90s, Oiwa was a centre-back of some standing with two Emperor’s Cup titles (1995,1999) in his six seasons with the club before a short sojourn with Jubilo Iwata (2000-2002) and then Kashima Antlers.

It was at Kashima that Oiwa proved his playing pedigree - winning four J1 League titles (2002, 2007, 2008, 2009) and two Emperor’s Cup (2007, 2010).

Succeeding Masatada Ishii as head coach in 2017, Oiwa took charge of Kashima for 143 matches between 2017 and 2020 where he took the Aichi Prefecture-based club to glory on the biggest stage in Asian club football, the AFC Champions League™.

Finishing as runners-up in the 2017 J1 League earned Kashima a spot in the AFC Champions League 2018 where Oiwa guided his side to the knockout stage after finishing second in Group B behind Suwon Bluewings.

Kashima knocked out Chinese clubs Shanghai Port and Tianjin Tianhai in the Round of 16 and quarter-finals respectively before a titanic semi-final battle with familiar opponents Suwon saw them emerging 6-5 aggregate winners.

Oiwa’s side were imperious in the final against Islamic Republic of Iran’s Persepolis FC, winning the first leg 2-0 and following that up with a goalless draw in Tehran to become champions of Asia.

He proved his ability to manage young players by guiding Japan to the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 title and the two-time AFC Coach of the Year will expect to see his squad of 2026 doing the same on Saturday.