Football: Minamino recalled, Kamada, Doan out for Japan friendlies

Monaco attacker Takumi Minamino was recalled to the Japan national team squad Wednesday for the first time since the Qatar World Cup, ahead of home international friendlies against Canada and Tunisia this month.

Manager Hajime Moriyasu also named Huddersfield defender Yuta Nakayama as well as goalkeepers Daiya Maekawa of Vissel Kobe and Zion Suzuki of Sint-Truiden in his 26-man squad, but the attacking duo of Lazio’s Daichi Kamada and Freiburg’s Ritsu Doan both missed out for conditioning reasons.

Monaco’s Takumi Minamino (C) celebrates with his teammates after scoring against Nantes during a French Ligue 1 match at Stade de La Beaujoire-Louis Fonteneau on Aug. 25, 2023. (Getty/Kyodo)

The Samurai Blue had two productive friendly outings in Europe in September, beating Germany 4-1 and Turkey 4-2, with both nations sacking their managers in the aftermath.

Japan, 19th in the FIFA rankings, will take on 44th-ranked Canada at Denka Big Swan Stadium in Niigata on Nov. 13 and 29th-ranked Tunisia at Noevir Stadium in Kobe four days later.

Japan squad:

Goalkeepers: Daiya Maekawa (Vissel Kobe), Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Zion Suzuki (Sint-Truiden)

Defenders: Shogo Taniguchi (Al Rayyan), Ko Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield), Koki Machida (Royale Union Saint-Gilloise), Seiya Maikuma (Cerezo Osaka), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart), Daiki Hashioka (Sint-Truiden), Yukinari Sugawara (AZ Alkmaar)

Midfielders/Forwards: Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Junya Ito, Keito Nakamura (Reims), Takuma Asano (Bochum), Takumi Minamino (Monaco), Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate (Celtic), Hidemoasa Morita (Sporting Lisbon), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton), Atsuki Ito (Urawa Reds), Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord), Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad)

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