TOKYO, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Japan Football Association announced a 30-player squad for their World Cup warmup matches against the United States and Ecuador in Dusseldorf, Germany later this month.
Most of the Japanese players are from European clubs, including Arsenal's Takehiro Tomiyasu, Schalke's Maya Yoshida, Stuttgart's Hiroki Ito and Wataru Endo, and a trio of Celtic stars of Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate.
But head coach Hajime Moriyasu had to drop Borussia Monchengladbach defender Ko Itakura and Bochum forward Takuma Asano, as both are resting after suffering knee ligament injuries and are doubtful for the World Cup.
Japan will play the United States on September 23 and Ecuador on September 27, before meeting Canada in Dubai on November 17 for their last World Cup warmup game.
Following is the squad:
Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg/France), Shuichi Gonda (Shimizu S-Pulse/Japan), Daniel Schmidt (Sint-Truiden/Belgium), Kosei Tani (Shonan Bellmare/Japan)
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo/Japan), Maya Yoshida (Schalke/Germany), Hiroki Sakai (Urawa Reds/Japan), Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale/Japan), Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale/Japan), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield Town/England), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal/England), Hiroki Ito (VfB Stuttgart/Germany), Ayumu Seko (Grasshoppers/Switzerland)
Midfielders/Forwards: Genki Haraguchi (Union Berlin/Germany), Gaku Shibasaki (Leganes/Spain), Wataru Endo (Stuttgart/Germany), Junya Ito (Stade de Reims/France), Takumi Minamino (Monaco/France), Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic/Scotland), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting Lisbon/Portugal), Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt/Germany), Yuki Soma (Nagoya Grampus/Japan), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton/England), Daizen Maeda (Celtic/Scotland), Reo Hatate (Celtic/Scotland), Ritsu Doan (FC Freiburg/Germany), Ayase Ueda (Cercle Brugge/Belgium), Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Dusseldorf/Germany), Shuto Machino (Shonan Bellmare/Japan), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad/Spain)
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