Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Tokyo: Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa are set to lead Japan’s 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifying charge after the duo were named in Vahid Halilhodzic’s squad for the Samurai Blue's campaign opener against Singapore on June 16.
Beside's AC Milan's Honda and Borussia Dortmund star Kagawa, Halilhodzic, who saw his charges notch up friendly wins against Tunisia and Uzbekistan in March, has called up a host of other players who ply their trade in Europe for the clash in Saitama.
“We won the two games in March but we need to build on them,” Halilhodzic told reporters.
“I want to create a winning culture while I’m here, which I believe is of utmost importance. In the past, Japan had not always been on top of tactics. My job is to correct that, to get us to be in control of the strategy over the course of 90 minutes.
“Our objective is to win both games and to play the qualifying match with authority.”
Japan have Singapore, Afghanistan, Syrian and Cambodia for company in Group E as Halilhodzic's men attempt to put memories of less than spectacular performances at both the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 AFC Asian Cup behind them.
Before entertaining Singapore, Japan will face Iraq in a friendly on June 11 in Yokohama.
Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Standard Liege), Masaaki Higashiguchi (Gamba Osaka), Shusaku Nishikawa (Urawa), Shuichi Gondo (Tokyo)
Defenders: Hiroki Sakai (Hannover), Gotoku Sakai (Stuttgart), Yuto Nagatomo (Inter Milan), Kosuke Ota (Tokyo), Maya Yoshida (Southampton), Daiki Niwa (Gamba), Tomoaki Makino (Urawa), Masato Morishige (Tokyo)
Midfielders: Makoto Hasebe (Frankfurt), Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka), Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki), Gaku Shibasaki (Kashima), Hiroshi Kiyotake (Hannover), Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund)
Forwards: Keisuke Honda (AC Milan), Yoshinori Muto (Tokyo), Shinji Okazaki (Mainz), Genki Haraguchi (Hertha Berlin), Yuya Osako (Cologne), Takashi Usami (Gamba), Kengo Kawamata (Nagoya)
Photo: AFP