On the 29th, the Japan Football Association (JFA) announced the members of the U-22 Japan Japan national team to compete in the AFC U-23 Asian Cup (Cup) Saudi Arabia tournament qualifying round (first match on September 3rd, intensively held in Myanmar) in Tokyo. FW Goto Keisuke (20 = Sint Troyden), FW Shiogai Kento (20 = NEC Nymehen), DF Kosugi Keita (19 = Jurgorden), and DF Yasuda Kenshin (20 = Henk).
Those who have been the A-team team, including midfielder Sato Ryunosuke (18, Fagiano Okayama), midfielder Ozeki Tomosho (20, Kawasaki Frontale), and goalkeeper Pisano Alexandre Kotohorio (19, Nagoya Grampus), who will be participating in the U-20 World Cup (World Cup), which opens on September 27th, were not selected.
Goalkeeper Nakamura Keisuke (20, Tokyo Verdi), goalkeeper Araki Rui (18, Gamba Osaka), who are regulars on the U-20 Japan national team, and Ichihara Rione (20, RB Omiya Ardija), and Fuse Katsumasa (18, Tsukuba University) were not selected in the defensive line.
From the middle onwards, Nakajima Yotaro (19 = Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Hiraga Daizora (20 = Kyoto Sanga F.C.), Ogura Yukinari (20 = Hosei University), Ishii Hisatsugu (20 = Shonan Bellmare), Kanda Kanama (19 = Kawasaki Frontale), Michiwaki Yutaka (19 = Befelen), Inoue Aren (18 = Sanfrecce Hiroshima), and Takaoka Reiharu (18 = Valenciennes) were not even invited.
Yamamoto Masakuni, the national team director who attended the press conference, was asked about the possibility that the members will be competing in the U-20 World Cup, and stated, “There is.” He said this expedition was “Of course, it's a big tournament in the finishing stage for the U-20 (Japan national team), aiming for the U-20 World Cup,” and explained, “It's a shame that there's no place for the players (on the borderline for the U-20 Japan national team). That's a burden, but the coaches (U-22 Japan national team), Coach Funakoshi (U-20 Japan national team), and Coach of the players' development were carefully crafted, and the schedules of this tournament were so tight that the schedules overlap. There's a judgement to see if they should do both. It depends on the player's fatigue at the time. You can think that there's no chance at all.”
