Japan U23s name squad to face South Africa as Olympics loom large

Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Japan U23s name squad to face South Africa as Olympics loom large

Tokyo: Japan U23 coach Makoto Teguramori has named his 21-man squad to face South Africa on June 29 in what will be the reigning Asian champions’ final friendly before leaving for this summer’s Olympic Games in Brazil.

With Japan, who have Nigeria, Colombia and Sweden for company in Group B, about to embark on their tenth Olympic campaign, Teguramori believes the friendly clash will provide a perfect platform on which to build ahead of their August 4 opener against Nigeria.

“I am looking forward very much to playing against South Africa, one of the countries playing in the Olympics," he told the Japan Football Association’s official website  

“We want to show in this match that we are capable of doing something notable in the Olympics. We have to have variety of weapons in our arsenal for the Olympics, and South Africa are a country that we get to show one of the variations against,” Teguramori added. 

FC Tokyo star Shoya Nakajima and Albirex Niigata forward Musashi Suzuki have both been included in the party to face South Africa as they continue their recovery from injury.

Despite being omitted from the squad to face the South Africans in Nagano, Europe-based forwards Yuya Kubo (Young Boys) and Takumi Minamino (Salzburg), as well as overage defenders Tsukasa Shiotani (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) and Hiroki Fujiharu (Gamba Osaka) are expected to be on the flight to Rio de Janeiro.

Japan qualified for this year’s Olympics following a sensational 3-2 defeat of Korea Republic in January’s AFC U23 Championship final in Qatar.

Japan U23 squad to face South Africa:

Goalkeepers: Masatoshi Kushibiki (Kashima Antlers), Kosuke Nakamura (Kashiwa Reysol)

Defenders: Ken Matsubara (Albirex Niigata), Masashi Kamekawa (Avispa Fukuoka), Kento Hashimoto, Sei Muroya (FC Tokyo), Naomichi Ueda (Kashima Antlers), Genta Miura (Shimizu S-Pulse), Shinnosuke Nakatani (Kashiwa Reysol)

Midfielders: Ryota Oshima, Riki Harakawa (Kawasaki Frontale), Wataru Endo (Urawa Reds), Junya Ito (Kashiwa Reysol), Shinya Yajima, Yuta Toyokawa (Fagiano Okayama), Gakuto Notsuda (Albirex Niigata), Yosuke Ideguchi (Gamba Osaka)

Forwards: Musashi Suzuki (Albirex Niigata), Shoya Nakajima (FC Tokyo), Takuma Asano (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Ado Onaiwu (JEF United Chiba)