Abu Dhabi: Japan coach Vahid Halilhodzic has revealed the 24 players that will look to get the Samurai Blue off to a winning start in the final phase of 2018 Fifa World Cup qualification.
The squad, for the Group B matches against the UAE in Saitama on September 1 and Thailand in Bangkok on September 6, features a mixture of Japan’s established stars and players at the beginning of their international careers.
Europe-based stars such as AC Milan’s Keisuke Honda, Borussia Dortmund’s Shinji Kagawa and 2016 Premier League-winning Leicester City striker Shinji Okazaki are all present, as are veterans Yuto Nagatomo and captain Makoto Hasebe.
The old guard are joined by a handful of fresh faces, including Kashima Antlers defender Gen Shoji and Arsenal recruit Takuma Asano, who impressed recently at the Rio Olympics. Kawasaki Frontale midfielder Ryota Oshima is also set for an international debut.
Ten of the 24-man squad play for Japanese clubs, with a further six playing in Germany.
Japan are targeting a sixth consecutive World Cup finals appearance since making their debut at the 1998 showpiece.
JAPAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers
Shusaku Nishikawa — Urawa Red Diamonds
Masaaki Higashiguchi — Gamba Osaka
Akihiro Hayashi — Sagan Tosu
Defenders
Hiroki Sakai — Olympique de Marseille (FRA)
Gotoku Sakai — Hamburger SV (GER)
Yuto Nagatomo — Inter Milan (ITA)
Kosuke Ota — Vitesse (NED)
Maya Yoshida — Southampton (ENG)
Tomoaki Makino — Urawa Red Diamonds
Masato Morishige — FC Tokyo
Gen Shoji — Kashima Antlers
Midfielders
Makoto Hasebe — Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)
Hotaru Yamaguchi — Cerezo Osaka
Yosuke Kashiwagi — Urawa Reds
Ryota Oshima — Kawasaki Frontale
Shinji Kagawa — Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Hiroshi Kiyotake — Sevilla FC (ESP)
Forwards
Keisuke Honda — AC Milan (ITA)
Yu Kobayashi — Kawasaki Frontale
Takashi Usami — FC Augsburg (GER)
Genki Haraguchi — Hertha Berlin (GER)
Shinji Okazaki — Leicester City (ENG)
Yoshinori Muto — Mainz (GER)
Takuma Asano — Arsenal (ENG)
