Moriyasu includes 'injured' Mitoma in Japan's AFC Asian Cup squad

Japan finished runners-up in the previous edition of the AFC Asian Cup.

Ranked 17th in the FIFA World rankings, Japan are easily one of the biggest favourites in the AFC Asian Cup 2023. Having finished top of the group of death in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Japan pose a big threat to all the nations in the tournament, and are a team poised with some world-class talent. 

Hajime Moriyasu, who has been at the helm of the Japanese national team since 2018, was also named the Asian Football Confederation Coach of the Year for the first time on Tuesday after guiding his country to comeback wins over former champions Germany and Spain at the 2022 World Cup.

Under his guidance, Japan have emerged as a strong force across the global platform of football, and the country has been a pioneer in the forefront of Asia at the highest level of football. 

At the continental level, Japan have won the AFC Asian Cup on four different occasions, with their most recent triumph coming in 2011. Since then, the Samurai Blues crashed out in the quarter-finals in 2015, and finished runners-up in 2019.

But with renewed hope and vengeance in their minds, Japan will set foot in Qatar, and try to claim the accolade for the biggest continental football competition in Asia. 

Japan’s squad for the Asian Cup 

On the 1st of January 2024, Hajime Moriyasu named his squad for the tournament. Amongst the biggest talking points, is the inclusion of injured Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma, who was named in Japan’s Asian Cup squad on Monday. Whereas Celtic goal machine Kyogo Furuhashi was omitted along with World Cup team members Daichi Kamada and Ao Tanaka.

Here is the entire squad:

Goalkeepers: Daiya Maekawa (Vissel Kobe), Zion Suzuki (Sint-Truiden), Taishi Brandon Nozawa (FC Tokyo)

Defenders: Shogo Taniguchi (Al-Rayyan), Ko Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach), Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Gent), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield Town), Koki Machida (Union SG), Seiya Maikuma (Cerezo Osaka), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart), Yukinari Sugawara (AZ Alkmaar)

Midfielders/Forwards: Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Takuma Asano (Bochum), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting Lisbon), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Keito Nakamura, Junya Ito (Reims), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Takumi Minamino (Monaco), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton), Reo Hatate (Celtic), Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord), Kaishu Sano (Kashima Antlers), Mao Hosoya (Kashiwa Reysol)

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