Japan, known for meeting Germany in the 2022 World Cup group stage, have announced their squad for the World Cup. Including eight German legionaries.
Japan, Germany’s group opponents, will travel to Qatar for the World Cup with a total of eight Bundesliga and 2nd division professionals.
National team coach Hajime Moriyasu has named Ritsu Doan (24 / SC Freiburg), Daichi Kamada (26 / Eintracht Frankfurt), Takuma Asano (27 / VfL Bochum), Wataru Endo (29), Hiroki Ito (23 / both VfB Stuttgart) ), Ko Itakura (25 / Borussia Mönchengladbach, Maya Yoshida (34 / Schalke 04) from the 1st Bundesliga and Ao Tanaka (24) from the second division Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Surprisingly, veteran Bundesliga 1 leaders Genki Haraguchi FC Union Berlin and former Bundesliga pro Yuya Osako will not participate in the tournament, which kicks off on 20 November in the Gulf Emirates. The now 32-year-old Osako played for 1. FC Köln and Werder Bremen but has been back active at home with Vissel Kobe since last year.
“Our goal is to reach at least the quarter-finals. It won’t be easy,” Moriyasu said at a press conference. Japan meet Germany, Spain and Costa Rica in Group E in Qatar. Germany and Japan will play their first Group E match at the World Cup on 23 November.
The Japanese squad of the World Cup:
Tor: Shuichi Gonda (Shimizu S-Pulse), Eiji Kawashima (Racing Straßburg), Daniel Schmidt (VV St. Truiden)
Defence: Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokio), Maya Yoshida (Schalke 04), Takehiro Tomiyasu (FC Arsenal), Hiroki Sakai (Urawa Red Diamonds), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield Town), Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale), Ko Itakura (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale), Hiroki Ito (VfB Stuttgart)
Midfield: Wataru Endo (VfB Stuttgart), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting Lissabon), Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Düsseldorf), Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt), Junya Ito (Stade Reims), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton & Hove Albion), Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco) , Yuki Soma (Nagoya Grampus), Gaku Shibasaki (CD Leganes), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad San Sebastian), Ritsu Doan (SC Freiburg)
Attack: Daizen Maeda (Celtic Glasgow), Takuma Asano (VfL Bochum), Ayase Ueda (Cercle Brügge)
wozi with dpa / sid
