Japan will meet Ghana at their send-off match in Nissan Stadium (Yokohama) on 30/May: http://www.jfa.jp/national_team/news/00016404/ Full list of pre-WC matches: 23/Mar vs Mali (in Liege, Belgium). 27/Mar vs Ukraine (in Liege, Belgium). 30/May vs Ghana (in Yokohama, Japan). 9/June vs Switzerland (in Lugano, Switzerland). 12/June vs Paraguay (to be played in Europe).
Squad for the friendlies against Mali and Ukraine: GK Eiji Kawashima (Metz). Masashi Higashiguchi (Gamba Osaka). Kosuke Nakamura (Kashiwa Reysol). DF Hiroki Sakai (Marseille). Wataru Endo (Urawa Reds). Yuto Nagatomo (Galatsaray). Shintaro Kurumaya (Kawasaki Frontale). Tomoya Ugajin (Urawa Reds). Gen Shoji (Kashima Antlers). Naomichi Ueda (Kashima Antlers). Tomoako Makino (Urawa Reds). Masato Morishige (FC Tokyo). MF Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt). Kento Misao (Kashima Antlers). Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka). Ryota Oshima (Kawasaki Frontale). Gaku Shibasaki (Getafe). Ryota Morioka (Anderlecht). FW Yuya Kubo (Gent). Keisuke Honda (Pachuca). Genki Haraguchi (Fortuna Düsseldorf). Takashi Usami (Fortuna Düsseldorf). Shoya Nakajima (Portimonense). Yu Kobayashi (Kawasaki Frontale). Kenyu Sugimoto (Cerezo Osaka). Yuya Osako (Cologne).
Notable absences: Maya Yoshida and Shinji Kagawa (injured). Shinji Okazaki (just came back from injury). Gotuku Sakai and Takumi Asano (not in a good form, Asano is rarely playing recently). Takashi Inui (No obvious reason)! I think he was excluded because of his lack of defensive play. During the announcement of the midfielders Vahid identified Hasebe, Misao and Yamaguchi as defensive midfielders, while identifying Oshima, Shibasaki and Morioka as attacking midfielders (which says a lot about his plans to adopt a conservative play style leading up to the WC). He mentioned Kiyotake and I can guess he mentioned something related to his repeated injuries since the start of last year. 26-men squad; 12 playing abroad (11 in Europe and 1 in Mexico), 3 players each from Kashima, Urawa and Kawasaki, 2 players each from Cerezo Osaka and 1 player each from Kashiwa, Gamba Osaka and FC Tokyo.
Nice to see some new faces, not sure about Ugajin. Inui should've been called up instead of Haraguchi, and I think Muto deserved a spot too
Okazaki needs to be there, but Muto is the most lethal Japanese striker in Europe. To include the likes of Haraguchi and Usami instead is just bollocks. There's no excuse. Vahid have no clue what he's doing. I'm a fan of Usami in general, and his current form is good but he's playing at a much lower level than the others. Nakajima is playing in a league that's marginally better than J.League (except Porto). Inui have performed well for 5-6 years in a row now in the 2 best leagues in the world. You can't compare it. Sure, I want to see Nakajima in the squad too, but there is absolutely no reason why he should be there over Inui. I'm sure the teams in the WC will be frightened beyond belief when they realize they are up against Haraguchi, Osako and Usami. 3 players who combined are yet to hit double figures over a season in Germany 1 and 2.
Good post. But Vahid has his favourites and it hurts to think about that he might leave Inui and Muto at home. Well Haraguchi is not a pure striker and he can be really good. But jumped down to B2 and that says alot I think. Muto. 59 games 19 goals. Haraguchi. 91 games. 4 goals. Osako. 103 games. 15 goals. Goals is not everything but if they wanna score some goals at least bring one that can score. Without those damn injuries every damn week Mutos stats would've been even better.
They are playing in different positions; Usami and Harghchi are viewed as wingers, while Okazaki and Muto are viewed as strkiers.
Squad numbers for the upcoming friendlies: GK 1 Kawashima 12 Higashiguchi 23 Kosuke Nakamura DF 5 Nagatomo 20 Makino 6 Morishige 2 Ugajin 21 Gotoku Sakai 19 Kurumaya 3 Shoji 24 Wataru Endo 22 Ueda MF 17 Hasebe 16 Yamaguchi 10 Morioka 7 Shibasaki 25 Oshima 26 Misao ▽FW 4 Honda 13 Yu Kobayashi 15 Osako 8 Haraguchi 11 Usami 9 Sugimoto 14 Yuya Kubo 18 Nakajima
I'm expecting the most experimental lineup in the first match, though of course it will never be 100% just new faces My prediction: Nakamura Ugaijin or Kurumaya Shoji Makino Nagatomo Hasebe, Oshima or Misao Kubo Morioka Usami or Nakajima Osako
Hasnt Kubo and Osako gotten their chances? We know what they bring to the table. Not to much to be honest.
All players listed below here except maybe Sugimoto (and Honda) can easily be used both on the wing in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 system as well as a centre striker. Some of them even play in those positions regularly. Osako have NEVER done well as the lone central striker in either of those systems, and it's no coincidence that the only team he really shone at Köln was when he played alongside a quality striker like Modeste in a 4-4-2 system. Kobayashi is probably the one that's most used to that role, although he doesnt always play there at Kawasaki either. And also Sugimoto, but I don't really see the chances of a J.League striker leading the attack to be that big. And that leaves Muto, who regularly holds the no.9 role in the 4-3-3 formation that Mainz often play with. But he's not selected. Go figure. And in a 4-3-2-1, 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 system a player like Haraguchi is way too defensive-minded and not near creative enough to hold one of the offensive roles imho, and it's only a waste of space really. And how good is his defensive contributions, really? Marginally better than a player like Inui maybe, but not by much. Kubo and Nakajima are exciting players, but none of them have proven themselves in a good league yet. 4 Honda 13 Yu Kobayashi 15 Osako 8 Haraguchi 11 Usami 9 Sugimoto 14 Yuya Kubo 18 Nakajima
It is not about if these player can or can not play on the wing/side, it is about how Vahid consider them. From this perspective, Okazaki and Muto are not considered as wingers but strikers, and accordingly they are not considered as competitors to Haraguchi and Usami (again, from Vahid's perspective).
Starting line-up against Mali: Nakamur.a Ugajin -- Shoji - Makino - Nagatomo. Hasebe - Oshima. Morioka. Kubo - Osako - Usami.
Nevermind tho, found this after searching for a long time. http://www.usagoals.net/c/football/2491553/1/mali-vs-japan-live-stream/
Down for me too. I guess I forget it. usually vipbox.me has it, not sure why today there are no streams.