Africa-Press – Ghana. Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu, Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma and Huddersfield defender Yuta Nakayama are all in Japan’s squad for the Fifa World Cup in Qatar.
Celtic’s Daizen Maeda also makes the cut, but team-mates Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate have been left out. Twenty of the 26-man squad play in Europe, with Japan facing Germany, Costa Rica and Spain in Group E.
“I couldn’t call up everyone who was looking forward to this World Cup,” said head coach Hajime Moriyasu.
“But I thank and honour everyone who has expressed a desire to represent Japan.
“We selected players who will be on the same wavelength as a team, who will be able to move and link up together, who through their organisation will be able to make use of their individual strengths.” Goalkeepers: Shuichi Gonda (Shimizu S-Pulse), Daniel Schmidt (Sint-Truiden), Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg).
Defenders: Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale), Hiroki Sakai (Urawa Reds), Maya Yoshida (Schalke), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale), Ko Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach), Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield).
Midfielders: Wataru Endo (Stuttgart), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting CP), Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Gaku Shibasaki (Leganes), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton), Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Junya Ito (Reims), Takumi Minamino (Monaco), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Yuki Soma (Nagoya Grampus).
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