Japan name 23-man squad to face Ghana

Japan national team coach Alberto Zaccheroni has named a 23-man squad for next month’s 3-nation mini tournament, the Kirin Challenge Cup which will feature Guatemala and Ghana in Osaka and Yokohama respectively.

The Guatemala match is to kick off at 7:25 p.m. JST at Osaka Nagai Stadium and the Ghana match is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. JST (10:20 a.m GMT on Tuesday, September 10) at the Yokohama International Stadium.

Young attackers Osako Yuya of Kashima Antlers and Saito Manabu of Yokohama F. Marinos were named in the Japan squad.

Also in the 23-member squad are regulars such as Honda Keisuke of CSKA Moscow, Kagawa Shinji of Manchester United and Uchida Atsuto of Shalke.

Kakitani Yoichiro and his Cerezo Osaka teammate Yamaguchi Hotaru, Aoyama Toshihiro of Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Morishige Masato of FC Tokyo were also called up again following their involvement in the friendly against Uruguay earlier this month.

These four players plus Osako and Saito played in the EAFF East Asian Cup in late July in Korea Republic, which Japan won for the first time.

“We will be playing opponents from two different continents. Ghana in particular are currently among the leading sides in Africa [in the World Cup qualifiers] ,” Japan boss Alberto Zaccheroni noted.?

“These two matches will be important for us to make further development as we bind together as part of our preparations for next year’s World Cup.”?

Squad:

Goalkeepers?KAWASHIMA Eiji (Standard Liege), NISHIKAWA Shusaku (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), GONDA Shuichi (FC Tokyo)

Defenders?KONNO Yasuyuki (Gamba Osaka), INOHA Masayuki (Jubilo Iwata), NAGATOMO Yuto (Inter Milan), MORISHIGE Masato (FC Tokyo), UCHIDA Atsuto (Shalke 04), YOSHIDA Maya (Southampton), SAKAI Hiroki (Hanover 96), SAKAI Gotoku (VfB Stuttgart)

Midfielders?ENDO Yasuhito (Gamba Osaka), HASEBE Makoto (VfL Wolfsburg), AOYAMA Toshihiro (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), HONDA Keisuke (CSKA Moscow), KIYOTAKE Hiroshi (1.FC Nurnberg), YAMAGUCHI Hotaru (Cerezo Osaka)

Forwards?OKAZAKI Shinji (1.FSV Mainz), KAGAWA Shinji (Manchester United), KAKITANI Yoichiro (Cerezo Osaka), SAITO Manabu (Yokohama F. Marinos), KUDO Masato (Kashiwa Reysol), OSAKO Yuya (Kashima Antlers)