January 3 – Japan have called up Brighton and Hove Albion standout forward Kaoru Mitoma for their Asian Cup squad despite Mitoma currently being sidelined by injury.
How long he will be out seems to be a matter of whether you are from Brighton or Japan.
Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi says he is “surprised” by the call up after saying his medical staff said Mitoma would be out for four to six weeks with an ankle injury received on December 21 against Crystal Palace.
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu has a different view of the injury saying that while Mitoma may not be fit for Japan’s opening game against Vietnam on January 14, “he is recovering well, and I expect him to be available at an early stage.”
Japan’s second game is against Iraq on January 19.
Japan go into the finals in Qatar (January 12-February 10) as one of the firm favourites, having lost the final in of the 2019 Asian Cup in the UAE 3-1 to Qatar.
Moriyasu has loaded up his squad with 22 players from clubs outside of Japan, 21 of them playing in Europe including Watari Endo (Liverpool), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal) and Takumi Minamino (Monaco).
Japan squad
Goalkeepers:
Daiya Maekawa (Vissel Kobe), Zion Suzuki (Sint-Truiden), Taishi Brandon Nozawa (FC Tokyo)
Defenders: Shogo Taniguchi (Al Rayyan), Ko Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach), Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Gent), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield Town), Koki Machida (Union SG), Seiya Maikuma (Cerezo Osaka), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart), Yukinari Sugawara (AZ Alkmaar)
Midfielders/Forwards: Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Takuma Asano (Bochum), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting Lisbon), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Keito Nakamura, Junya Ito (Reims), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Takumi Minamino (Monaco), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton), Reo Hatate (Celtic), Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord), Kaishu Sano (Kashima Antlers), Mao Hosoya (Kashiwa Reysol)
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