Brighton & Hove Albion’s in-form Kaoru Mitoma yesterday returned to the Japan squad as Hajime Moriyasu’s side eye an eighth straight appearance at the FIFA World Cup.
Japan face China at home on Thursday next week and Bahrain away five days later to start the decisive third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
The 27-year-old winger Mitoma has not featured for Japan since the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar in January, when injury restricted him to two substitute appearances.
Photo: Reuters
He was ruled out for the rest of last season after he returned to Brighton, but he has started the new Premier League campaign in good form with one goal and one assist in his side’s perfect start.
Japan coach Moriyasu wants his team to make a fast start to the third qualifying round.
“They will be tough games, but we have to go into them with a winning mindset and prepare well for each one,” he said. “We want to maximize our potential and give everything in these games.”
Japan have also been drawn with Australia, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia in a tough Group C.
The top two teams qualify automatically for the finals, with the third and fourth-placed sides going into a further round of qualifying.
Mitoma is joined in the squad by three other Premier League players in Liverpool’s Wataru Endo, Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada and Southampton’s Yukinari Sugawara.
There was also a recall for Stade de Reims winger Junya Ito, who has not featured since he left the Asian Cup squad after a Japanese magazine published allegations that he sexually assaulted two women in a hotel in Osaka last year.
Japanese prosecutors dropped charges against the player earlier this month and he has denied any wrongdoing.
Moriyasu had previously said he had not subsequently called up Ito to “protect” him.
The coach said the time was right to bring him back into the fold.
“The player and the team have to be able to work in an environment where they can focus on their football and up until now I doubted that would be the case,” he said.
Former captain Makoto Hasebe was invited to join the squad as a coach for the games against China and Bahrain.
Hasebe retired from playing aged 40 at the end of last season and is working as a coach with German side Eintracht Frankfurt’s under-21 team.
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
REUNION: Former Barcelona players Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Miami coach Javier Mascherano are to face their former coach Luis Enrique Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi faces a tantalizing reunion with former club Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup last 16 after both sides on Monday progressed to the knockout phase. Miami drew 2-2 with Palmeiras to go through second in Group A, after the Brazilian side fought back from two goals down to seal top spot. They now face an all-Brazil clash against Botafogo, who lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid, but progressed from Group B in second at the expense of the Spaniards. Champions of Europe PSG won the group with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders, paving the
Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Australian teenager Maya Joint on Tuesday eased into the Eastbourne Open quarter-finals in England as Hsieh prepares for the Wimbledon Championships next week. Four-time Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Hsieh and 19-year-old Joint fired two aces and converted five of eight break points to defeat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 6-3 in 58 minutes on the grass court. Hsieh and Joint are today to face fourth seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Quinn Gleason of the US and
Dale Earnhardt Jr might already be NASCAR’s most popular crew chief. He is certainly an undefeated one. Pressed into unexpected service, Earnhardt on Saturday called the shots for 18-year-old prospect Connor Zilisch in the No. 88 Chevrolet, as they landed in victory lane in the second-tier Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. “It felt good to have some input and decisionmaking power,” Earnhardt said. “And then helping Connor understand what our plan was so he knew when to push and what he was expected to do.” Earnhardt — who won NASCAR’s most-popular driver award 15 times — made a pit stop from his
RSS