>>724130983
It's a reasonable argument to make on the fidelity to original work vs meaning, but I disagree. Nationality and national pride is very important to sports shonen. As anon notes, the Japaneseness of the characters is pretty fucking important, when you have national teams.

Lets use a different series to compare: The Prince of Tennis. Many of the names in that series are meaningful historical references, but it would be a mistake to push too hard for the meanings there.

Ryoma being the successor to the Samurai, and overthrowing kings and emperors. The fact that his name is in katakana and he uses english catchphrases is meaningful as well.
Keigo Atobe being a king, ect ect.