Okada's few surprises
Under-pressure Japan coach Takeshi Okada took few risks in naming his country's 23-man World Cup squad.
Europe-based quartet Makoto Hasebe, Keisuke Honda, Daisuke Matsui and Takayuki Morimoto have all been included alongside Shunsuke Nakamura and 2009 Asian player of the year Yasuhito Endo ahead of Japan's Group E opener against Cameroon on June 14.
Playmaker Nakamura is expected to be fit for Japan's final World Cup warm-up against the Ivory Coast on Friday after the former Celtic midfielder missed the defeat by England due to an ankle injury, but played 90 minutes of a practice match on Monday.
Okada, who was in charge for Japan's winless World Cup finals debut in France in 1998, received the backing of Japan Football Association president Motoaki Inukai following the one-sided 2-0 defeat to South Korea on May 24.
SQUAD
Goalkeeper: Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale), Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata)
Defenders: Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama Marinos), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Nagoya Grampus), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata), Daiki Iwamasa (Kashima Antlers), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers)
Midfielders: Shunsuke Nakamura (Yokohama Marinos), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Junichi Inamoto (Kawasaki Frontale), Yuki Abe (Urawa Red Diamonds), Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg, Germany), Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow, Russia), Daisuke Matsui (Grenoble, France)
Forwards: Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse), Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus), Yasuhito Okubo (Vissel Kobe), Kisho Yano (Albirex Niigata), Takayuki Morimoto (Catania, Italy).
Comments