Goalkeepers;
Higashiguchi, Kawashima, Nishikawa

Both games at Saitama Stadium

Goalkeepers:
Higashiguchi (Gamba), Nishikawa (Reds) Kawashima (Dundee Utd/Scotland), Hayashi (Tosu)

Defence

H.Sakai (Hannover 96/Germany), G.Sakai (Hamburg/Germany), Nagatomo (Inter/Italy), Fujiharu (Gamba), Yoshida (Southampton/England), Makino (Reds), Morishige (FC Tokyo), Shoji (Antlers)

Midfield

Hasebe (Frankfurt/Germany), Yamaguchi (Hannover 96), Kashiwagi (Reds), Haraguchi (Hertha Berlin), Kagawa (Dortmund/Germany), Kiyotake (Hannover 96)

Forwards

Okazaki (Leicester/England), Honda (Milan/Italy), Kobayashi (Frontale), Usami (Gamba), Kanazaki (Antlers), 194cm HavenaarMike (Den Haag/Holland)

SAMURAI BLUE（日本代表）

対アフガニスタン代表 【3/24】

対シリア代表 【3/29】

GK
川島　永嗣　ｶﾜｼﾏ ｴｲｼﾞ（ダンディー・ユナイテッド/スコットランド）
東口　順昭　ﾋｶﾞｼｸﾞﾁ ﾏｻｱｷ（ガンバ大阪）
西川　周作　ﾆｼｶﾜ ｼｭｳｻｸ（浦和レッズ）
林　彰洋　ﾊﾔｼ ｱｷﾋﾛ（サガン鳥栖）

DF
長友　佑都　ﾅｶﾞﾄﾓ ﾕｳﾄ（インテル・ミラノ/イタリア）
槙野　智章　ﾏｷﾉ ﾄﾓｱｷ（浦和レッズ）
森重　真人　ﾓﾘｼｹﾞ ﾏｻﾄ（FC東京）
吉田　麻也　ﾖｼﾀﾞ ﾏﾔ（サウサンプトン/イングランド）
藤春　廣輝　ﾌｼﾞﾊﾙ ﾋﾛｷ（ガンバ大阪）
酒井　宏樹　ｻｶｲ ﾋﾛｷ（ハノーファー96/ドイツ）
酒井　高徳　ｻｶｲ ｺﾞｳﾄｸ（ハンブルガーSV/ドイツ）
昌子　源　ｼｮｳｼﾞ ｹﾞﾝ（鹿島アントラーズ）

MF
長谷部　誠　ﾊｾﾍﾞ ﾏｺﾄ（アイントラハト・フランクフルト/ドイツ）
柏木　陽介　ｶｼﾜｷﾞ ﾖｳｽｹ（浦和レッズ）
香川　真司　ｶｶﾞﾜ ｼﾝｼﾞ（ボルシア・ドルトムント/ドイツ）
清武　弘嗣　ｷﾖﾀｹ ﾋﾛｼ（ハノーファー96/ドイツ）
山口　蛍　ﾔﾏｸﾞﾁ ﾎﾀﾙ（ハノーファー96/ドイツ）
原口　元気　ﾊﾗｸﾞﾁ ｹﾞﾝｷ（ヘルタ・ベルリン/ドイツ）

FW
岡崎　慎司　ｵｶｻﾞｷ ｼﾝｼﾞ（レスター・シティー/イングランド）
本田　圭佑　ﾎﾝﾀﾞ ｹｲｽｹ（ACミラン/イタリア）
ハーフナー・マイク　ﾊｰﾌﾅｰ ﾏｲｸ（ADOデン・ハーグ/オランダ）
小林　悠　ｺﾊﾞﾔｼ ﾕｳ（川崎フロンターレ）
金崎　夢生　ｶﾅｻﾞｷ ﾑｳ（鹿島アントラーズ）
宇佐美　貴史　ｳｻﾐ ﾀｶｼ（ガンバ大阪）

Japan is currently blessed with a hoard of talented footballers. Although being ranked at a lowly 52 in the FIFA rankings presently, the team is undoubtedly under-performing. You only have to look at the exit from this year’s AFC Asia Cup to see the disappointment etched on many fans’ faces when knocked out in a penalty kicks loss to United Arab Emirates after previously topping their group with 3 wins out of 3 in the group stage.

With many of the star players currently in the international crop coming from top European leagues such as Germany, England and Italy many predict that the Japanese squad needs to reach its peak over the next couple of years. But after the disappointment of the AFC Asia Cup we thought we would take a lighthearted look at some of the national team’s squad members.

Have you ever wondered how some of the players would fare playing another sport? Poker has become a very valuable fundraiser for football clubs over the years. You only have to look at the extremely popular ‘Road to Old Trafford’ hosted by Manchester United that raised a sizeable amount for Rio Ferdinand’s Foundation in 2012. The charity poker event featured past and present players as well as a host of professional poker players. But how would some of Japan’s national players fare against each other? Let’s discuss…

Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund)

Always composed on the ball, Kagawa would be cool, calm and collected under pressure. With a rabid card culture at his old club Manchester United, the midfield maestro would’ve no doubt played his fair share of poker during his time in England. At the poker table, you could imagine Kagawa being unreadable at times staying stoic throughout – getting creative with his bluffs and would always be willing to take a risk just like when he’s taking on defenders in the final third for his current club, Borussia Dortmund.

Maya Yoshida (Southampton)

The big central defender is having the best period of his career to date with Southampton in the English Premier League. He would no doubt be full of confidence and wouldn’t be intimidated at the poker table. He’s also a ball playing defender who is calm under pressure, too and you’d expect this to transcend to his poker game.

Keisuke Honda (Milan)

One of Japan’s most celebrated players, Honda is suave and sophisticated – he’d likely bring a certain aura of confidence to the tables. Another creative, risk-taker, Honda would be unpredictable in his game play and always look for interesting ways to steal his opponents’ stacks.

Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt)

The national team captain, Hasebe would be dependable under pressure and like his on-the-field-game, extremely reliable and consistent. Unlikely to do anything particularly rash, Hasebe’s game would rely solely on playing the odds and percentages as opposed to risking his stack for a needless bet.

If the above international players were to engage in some high-stakes poker, they wouldn’t be the first from the football world. Just last year German international Max Kruse and Spanish ace Sergio Ramos played in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas among 6,000+ professionals. With Kruse and Ramos learning their trade on online portal and during away trips, it didn’t take the pair long to realize their love for the game was more than just a hobby.

The availability of online poker portals in Europe is unparalleled with thousands operating legally across the continent. Betting exchange Betfair has over 30 game variants taking place at one time on their site, which is the ideal platform for poker players to access and play competitively anytime of the day. These vast options helped the betting exchange to post record profits in 2015 as well inking deals with professional clubs such as Liverpool, which has broadened the brand’s appeal in the football world.

With many professional footballers now transitioning into the world of poker. Who do you think will be the first Japanese international to make their bow at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas? And, who do you think out of the current crop of internationals would make the finest poker player? Let us know your thoughts below.

The Japan national team Samurai Blue camp will take place on May 12-13 and there are some new and interesting names in the squad – and some old ones – hello Yoshito Okubo! New names include centre backs Daiki Niwa of Gamba Osaka and Takuya Iwanami of Vissel Kobe.

代表候補ながらFW大久保嘉人(川崎F)がブラジルW杯以来の招集となったほか、GK六反勇治(仙台)、DF丹羽大輝(G大阪)、DF岩波拓也(神戸)、MF遠藤康(鹿島)、MF谷口彰悟(川崎F)、FW杉本健勇(川崎F)、FW浅野拓磨(広島)の7人が日本代表候補に初選出された。

▽GK
Higashiguchi – Gamba Osaka 東口順昭(G大阪)
Nishikawa – Urawa Reds 西川周作(浦和)
Rokutan – Vegalta Sendai 六反勇治(仙台)
Gonda – FC Tokyo 権田修一(F東京)

▽DF
Mizumoto – Sanfrecce Hiroshima 水本裕貴(広島)
Niwa – Gamba Osaka 丹羽大輝(G大阪)
Makino – Urawa Reds 槙野智章(浦和)
Morishige – FC Tokyo 森重真人(F東京)
Ota – FC Tokyo 太田宏介(F東京)
Fujiharu – Gamba Osaka 藤春広輝(G大阪)
Shiotani – Sanfrecce Hiroshima 塩谷司(広島)
Shoji – Kashima Antlers 昌子源(鹿島)
Iwanami – Vissel Kobe 岩波拓也(神戸)
Ueda – Kashima Antlers 植田直通(鹿島)

▽MF
Konno – Gamba Osaka 今野泰幸(G大阪)
Endo – Kashima Antlers 遠藤康(鹿島)
Yamaguchi – Cerezo Osaka 山口蛍(C大阪)
Yonemoto – FC Tokyo 米本拓司(F東京)
Tanicguchi – Kawasaki Frontale 谷口彰悟(川崎F)
Shibasaki – Kashima Antlers 柴崎岳(鹿島)

▽FW
Okubo – Kawasaki Frontale 大久保嘉人(川崎F)
Toyoda – Sagan Tosu 豊田陽平(鳥栖)
Nagai – Nagoya Grampus 永井謙佑(名古屋)
Kawamata – Nagoya Grampus 川又堅碁(名古屋)
Usami – Gamba Osaka 宇佐美貴史(G大阪)
Muto – FC Tokyo 武藤嘉紀(F東京)
Sugimoto – Kawasaki Frontale 杉本健勇(川崎F)
Asano – Sanfrecce Hiroshima 浅野拓磨(広島)

Endo 8′, Okazaki 25′, Honda (PK) 44′, Yoshida 49′

by Alan Gibson for JSoccer Magazine

Japan starting XI:
Kawashima, G.Sakai, Morishige, Yoshida, Nagatomo,Hasebe, Endo, Kagawa, Inui, Honda, Okazaki

With a local time of 18.00 for kick off in Australia, the air was warm, but not too hot – a balmy 27 degrees C, and a slight spatter of rain to add a little zip to the surface – at Hunter Stadium, Newcastle, New South Wales for Japan’s opening match of the Asian Cup, against tournament debutants Palestine.

It was, in the end, a walk in the park for Japan – the Group D favourites – against Asian Cup first-timers Palestine, with Yasuhito Endo, Shinji Okazaki, Keisuke Honda and Maya Yoshida all getting on the scoreboard to open the Samrai Blue defence of the trophy confidently – and with a clean sheet.

Javier Aguirre chose experience over youth – as I’d expected – with Endo and Makoto Hasebe starting in the middle of the park, despite some critics’ dismissal of both players’ selections for this tournament. With Gaku Shibasaki a little behind in fitness after joining the squad late, due to a flu infection, his non-inclusion was not a surprise anyway, so the veteran pair selected themselves.

Takashi Inui – who had been in a rich vein of goalscoring form in friendlies before the tournament proper – was given the nod over Muto, or Kiyotake, depending on your outlook and Gotoku Saki was looking to make the right back spot his own.

It was no surprise to see Eiji Kawashima between the posts and, of course, this game was never going ahead without Honda, Shinji Kagawa and Okazaki.

Life will be a little harder for Japan in their remaining Group D fixtures against Iraq (Friday) and Jordan (Tuesday).

Palestine had qualified for this – their first Asian Cup appearance – through the AFC Challenge Cup, and questions will probably be asked about their winning of a place over more qualified national teams who went through the qualifying process unsuccessfully.

Endo’s opener was a speculative – possible even mis-hit – grass-cutter from about 25 yards that escaped the keeper’s fingertips after he seemed to dive too early. The reigning champions then doubled their lead in the 25th minute when Inter Milan’s left back – said to be on the radar of Premier League West Bromwich Albion – attacked down the left. His cross was forced out, but the bouncing ball fell to Kagawa, who saw his blast headed home from close range by the lightning reflexes of Okazaki.

Palestine had made a habit of pushing and pulling the Japanese players and this came home to roost when Mus’ab Al Battat was judged to have bundled Kagawa over in the penalty area. Honda stepped up to place the ball past the keeper with some ease and it was 3-0 at the break.

Japan made their first change as the second half began, with Hiroshi Kiyotake replacing Takashi Inui as the teams came out for the restart.

Japan added their fourth goal when Kagawa received a short corner in the area, twisted one way, slipped back the other and lobbed a deep far post cross for Yoshida to head home with aplomb. Still lels than 50 minutes on the clock and Japan were cruising in second gear, if that.

Palestine then raised the physical aspect of their game with more and more fouls and started to lose any friends that they might have gained by making it this far. This rough play saw Japan’s second sub, Yoshinori Muto – on for Endo – get a high boot in the stomach (or worse!?) moments after entering the field. His assailant escaped with just a yellow card.

Ahmed Harbi was not so lucky and saw his second yellow in the 73rd minute, and yet, as Palestine went down to ten men, Japan seemed to lose momentum, or desire, or just slip down into a lower gear, their job done.

After earlier flailing – and missing – at the one cross that came his way, Kawashima then saw a free header from a right wing free kick fly past his post as Al Bahdari was given space to attack the ball.

Yohei Toyoda made a late appearance for Japan but did little as the Samurai Blue settled back for the easy win, yet, as additional time wound down it looked as if Japan would get another. Kiyotake saw his shot saved, and then the ball ricocheted around the box and four goal attempts were blocked within ten seconds before the final whistle sounded.

Summary? An easy win against a team that were out of their depth and got more physical as the game progressed. A clean sheet, no yellow cards and, hopefully, no injuries is more than a decent start to the campaign. Bring on Iraq!

JSoccer Magazine
Images (C) World Sport Group

I believe that more players will go to Switzerland in the near future, and there will be a return to Holland for some? What do you think?

Akira Kaji going to Chivas in USA may show the way for more older (nearing retirement) or younger (without contract offers?) players to go to “the States”. A few more heading to Australia soon, too?

GERMANY – Bundesliga
Atsuto Uchida – Schalke 04
Gotoku Sakai – Stuttgart
Genki Haraguchi – Hertha Berlin
Hajime Hosogai – Hertha Berlin
Hiroki Sakai – Hannover 96
Hiroshi Kiyotake – Hannover 96
Makoto Hasebe – Eintracht Frankfurt
Takashi Inui – Eintracht Frankfurt
Shinji Kagawa – Borussia Dortmund
Shinji Okazaki – Mainz
Yuya Osako – Cologne
Kazuki Nagasawa – Cologne

GERMANY – Bundesliga 2
Hiroki Yamada – Karlsruher
Yusuke Tasaka – Bochum

GERMANY – 3rd Division
Mitsuru Maruoka – Borussia Dortmund B

ENGLAND
Ryo Miyaichi – Arsenal
Maya Yoshida – Southampton

ITALY
Keisuke Honda – AC Milan
Yuto Nagatomo – Inter Milan

SPAIN – Primera Liga
Mike Havenaar – Córdoba

SPAIN – Division 2
Sotan Tanabe – Sabadell

SPAIN – Division 3
Yukiya Sugita – Hércules

PORTUGAL – DIvision 1
Junya Tanaka – Sporting

PORTUGAL – DIvision 2
Mu Kanazaki – Portimonense

SWITZERLAND
Yuya Kubo – Young Boys of Berne
Yoichiro Kakitani – FC Basel

BELGIUM
Eiji Kawashima – Standard Liège
Yuji Ono – Standard Liège

HOLLAND – Division 2
Yuki Otsu – VVV Venlo

RUSSIA
Takafumi Akahoshi – FK Ufa

POLAND
Takuya Murayama – Pogon Szczecin
Shohei Okuno – Pogon Szczecin

ROMANIA
Takayuki Seto – Astra Giurgiu

GK Kawashima Nishikawa, Gonda DF Komano, Kurihara, Tokunaga, Inoha, Nagatomo, Makino, Uchida, Sakai MF – Nakamura (Kengo), Hasebe, Honda, Hosogai, Takahashi, Aria Jasuru Hasegawa FW – Maeda, Okazaki, Morimoto, Kagawa, Haraguchi, Miyaichi

GK – 川島永嗣, 西川周作, 権田修 ＤＦ- 駒野友一, 栗原勇蔵, 徳永悠平, 伊野波雅彦, 長友佑都, 槙野智章, 内田篤人, 酒井宏樹 ＭＦ- 中村憲剛, 長谷部誠, 本田圭佑, 細貝萌, 高橋秀人, 長谷川アーリアジャスール ＦＷ – 前田遼一, 岡崎慎司, 森本貴幸, 香川真司, 原口元気, 宮市亮

It will be interesting to see who Zac selects – who do YOU think will be in? Has Miyaichi done enough? Is Honda match fit? Will Kagawa’s mind be on a Premier League move? Is Genki Haraguchi back!? Has Hisato Sato done enough to get another chance for Japan? Will Tulio EVER play for Japan again? Will Kiyotake be selected or allowed to concentrate on London2012 (and Nuremburg plans!)? Will any of the S-Pulse youngsters get the call?

Your answers, or more questions below, please!