Nakamura named to squad for Australia match
Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura and four other Europe-based players were summoned by coach Takeshi Okada on Friday for Japan’s World Cup qualifier at home against Australia on Feb 11.
Eintracht Frankfurt’s Junichi Inamoto, Wolfsburg’s Makoto Hasebe and Yoshito Okubo, and Saint-Etienne’s Daisuke Matsui were also named to the 25-man squad that will play a warmup match against Finland on Feb. 4.
Japan lost to Bahrain 1-0 in an Asian Cup qualifier on Wednesday, triggering harsh criticism of Okada at home.
“Australia is a very strong team,” Okada said. “We will have to be prepared to defend against giving up goals on set plays and that’s something we will be working on.”
Japan and Australia are in Group A of qualifying along with Qatar, Uzbekistan and Bahrain.
Australia leads the standings with nine points from three matches, two ahead of Japan. Qatar has four points while Uzbekistan and Bahrain each have a point.
Brazilian-born defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka will also be back from a left knee injury, while goalkeepers Seigo Narazaki and Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi were sidelined due to injuries.
The top two teams of both Asian groups qualify directly for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
