Who will Japan’s manager Hajime Moriyasu choose for the Qatar World Cup in 2022?
In addition to being the team’s eighth straight appearance at the World Cup, Japan’s best World Cup performance has been reaching the Round of 16 three different times. They will be hoping to shock soccer fans around the world in the 2022 edition.
After a rough start to their qualification campaign, head coach Hajime Moriyasu will have exhaled a sigh of relief when his team ultimately secured qualification.
Though they now find themselves in Group E with Spain, Germany, and Costa Rica, they face yet another difficult obstacle.
Goalkeepers
Hajime Moriyasu, the manager of Japan, has a talented pool of goalkeepers to choose from, with the seasoned keeper Eiji Kawashima emerging as one of the obvious choices.
Kosei Tani, Daniel Schmidt, and Shuichi Gonfa have all just made it into Japan’s starting lineups and are expected to reach the final team.
Zion Suzuki and Keisuke Osako don’t have a lot of national team experience, but they still have a remote chance of being selected.
Eiji Kawashima, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt, Kosei Tani, Keisuke Osako, Zion Suzuki
Defenders
Prior to the World Cup, Japan’s defensive talent pool will include a combination of youth and experience.
Veterans Maya Yoshido and Yuto Nagatomo appear to be traveling to Qatar with no doubt.
One of the Japanese prospects, Takehiro Tomiyasu, who is presently competing in the Premier League, is also quite likely to make the final roster.
Additionally, athletes like Ko Itakura, Yuta Nakayama, and Hiroki Ito are all interested in their chances of traveling to Qatar.
Miki Yamane, Shogo Taniguchi, Ayumu Seko, Yuto Nagatomo, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Hiroki Sakai, Yuto Nakayama, Maya Yoshida, Hiroki Ito, Sho Sasaki, Shinnosuke Hatanaka, Ko Itakura, Naomichi Ueda, Sei Muroya
Midfielders
Takumi Minamino, an attacking midfielder for Monaco who previously played for Liverpool and Southampton in the Premier League, may be the preferred option for Japan in the middle of the field and will undoubtedly travel to Qatar.Reo Hatate and Ritsu Doan are additional alternatives in midfield, while Genki Haraguchi and Gaku Sibasaki will be confident of making the World Cup roster as well.
Wataru Endo, Gaku Shibasaki, Genki Haraguchi, Takumi Minamino, Takefusa Kubo, Hidemasa Morita, Junya Ito, Daichi Kamada, Ao Tanaka, Kaoru Mitoma, Ritsu Doan, Reo Hatate, Yuki Soma, Kento Hashimoto
Attackers
The Celtic combination of Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda are among the strong attacking players on Japan’s excellent team.
They will likely line up next to the seasoned Takuma Asano and Yuya Osako. Additionally, there will be others like Yoshinori Muto and Shuto Machino.
Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Takefusa Kubo, Ayase Ueda, Shuto Machina, Yoshinori Muto, Takuma Nishimura, Makoto Mitsuta, Takuma Asano, Yuya Osako, Ado Onaiwu
Player to watch
Both the Japan national team and Ligue 1 club Strasbourg use goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima. Before joining Lierse S.K., he played in Japan for Omiya Ardija, Nagoya Grampus Eight, and Kawasaki Frontale. Year 2010 in Belgium. From 2012 to 2015, he then played for Standard Liège, a different Belgian club, and from 2015 to 2016; he did so for Dundee United in Scotland. At the 2010, 2014, and 2018 World Cups, he represented Japan and received almost 90 caps.
The club at Lierse praised Kawashima. He is a very professional athlete, seriously and systematically open for everyone, and every time he looks up, he asks for a handshake with a friend. Additionally, he is a player with leadership qualities who can lead the defense line.
