NEWS

Japan men's Olympic team coach Yasuharu Sorimachi on Thursday announced his squad for the Toulon International tournament, slated for May 20-29 in France.

The 23-strong squad features Catania forward Takayuki Morimoto, VVV Venlo midfielder Keisuke Honda and Celtic midfielder Koki Mizuno.

Urawa Reds' Spain-born forward Sergio Escudero, who was recently granted a Japanese passport, was called up for the first time.

The squad will leave for France to prepare for the annual tournament in southern France.

In the eight-team tournament, Japan will play the Netherlands Under-23 team on May 20, France's Under-21s on May 22, and Chile's Under-23s on May 24 in Group A.

Group B consists of Ivory Coast, Italy, Turkey and the United States.

The top two finishers from each group will advance to the semifinals, which will take place on May 27. The third-place playoff and the final will be held on May 29.

"I want to take advantage of this tournament, which is the last overseas tour for us before the Olympics, and create a solid backbone for our team," Sorimachi said.

"Playing against teams from another football continent like Europe will be an important opportunity for us. I hope we can show the good parts of our game while representing Japan," he added.

Squad:
Goalkeepers—Kaito Yamamoto (Shimizu S-Pulse), Shusaku Nishikawa (Oita Trinita), Akihiro Hayashi (Ryutsu Keizai Univ.)

Defenders—Hokuto Nakamura (Avispa Fukuoka), Masahiko Inoha (Kashima Antlers), Hiroki Mizumoto (Gamba Osaka), Yusuke Tanaka (Yokohama F. Marinos), Naoaki Aoyama (Shimizu S-Pulse), Masato Morishige (Oita Trinita), Maya Yoshida (Nagoya Grampus)

Midfielders—Takuya Honda (Shimizu S-Pulse), Hiroyuki Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale), Koki Mizuno (Celtic), Yohei Kajiyama (FC Tokyo), Toshihiro Aoyama (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Kota Ueda (Jubilo Iwata), Hajime Hosogai (Urawa Reds), Keisuke Honda (VVV Venlo), Tsukasa Umesaki (Urawa Reds)

Forwards—Tadanari Lee (Kashiwa Reysol), Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse), Takayuki Morimoto (Catania), Sergio Escudero (Urawa Reds)

Coach—Yasuharu Sorimachi