NEWS

Japan coach Takeshi Okada on Monday called up Sanfrecce Hiroshima forward Hisato Sato, VVV Venlo midfielder Keisuke Honda and his Japan Under-23 teammate defender Michihiro Yasuda for the World Cup qualifying match against Bahrain, slated for Sunday (kickoff at 7:20 p.m.) at Saitama Stadium.

For the final match in Group 2 of the Asian third-round qualifiers, Japan coach Takeshi Okada dropped midfielder Shinji Kagawa and was forced to leave out injured defender Yuto Nagatomo.

Japan have already won a place in the final round of qualifiers.

Squad:
Goalkeepers—Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata), Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus),
Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale)

Defenders—Shuhei Terada (Kawasaki Frontale), Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F. Marinos),
Kazumichi Takagi (Shimizu S-Pulse), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Urawa Reds),
Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata), Yusuke Igawa (Kawasaki Frontale),
Michihiro Yasuda (Gamba Osaka), Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers)

Midfielders—Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka),
Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Daisuke Matsui (St. Etienne),
Keita Suzuki (Urawa Reds), Koji Yamase (Yokohama F. Marinos), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo),
Makoto Hasebe (VfL Wolfsburg), Keisuke Honda (VVV Venlo)

Forwards—Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus), Seiichiro Maki (JEF United Chiba),
Hisato Sato (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Yoshito Okubo (Vissel Kobe),
Kisho Yano (Albirex Niigata)

Coach—Takeshi Okada