"Passion" is the story of Japan soccer team coach Philippe Troussier, his struggle to make it as a player and manager and his travels around France, Africa and Japan. In the book, Troussier also details his philosophy and thinking as he prepares for the World Cup in June.
In this, the third of 10 extracts from the book, Troussier tells how he had to try and break the Japanese players' sense of inferority.
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Japanese players have always had a bit of an inferiority complex over their size. To try and disprove this notion, I invited Franck Brocherie from France's Dijon University -- where they have a sports conditioning and analysing center that is used by the likes of Juventus and AC Milan -- to make some tests.