Minamino, Tomiyasu headline Japan World Cup roster
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Japan became the first team to announce its World Cup roster on Thursday with 20 of the 26 players set for Qatar based in Europe.
Among those called up to the Samurai Blue are veteran Schalke defender Maya Yoshida, Monaco midfielder Takumi Minamino and Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu.
"I couldn't call up everyone who was looking forward to this World Cup," manager Hajime Moriyasu said in a statement. "But I thank and honour everyone who has expressed a desire to represent Japan. We selected players who will be on the same wavelength as a team, who will be able to move and link up together, who through their organization will be able to make use of their individual strengths."
Japan will compete in a difficult Group E alongside former World Cup winners Spain and Germany, as well as Costa Rica.
This will be Japan's seventh straight World Cup appearances. The team has reached the Round of 16 on three occasions, including most recently at Russia 2018 where the Samurai Blue ultimately fell to Belgium.
Japan gets its tournament underway on Nov. 23 against Germany.
JAPAN WORLD CUP ROSTER
GK - Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg), Shuichi Gonda (Shimizu S-Pulse) and Daniel Schmidt (Sint-Truiden)
DF - Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale), Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale), Ko Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Hiroki Sakai (Urawa Red Diamonds), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield Town), Maya Yoshida (Schalke) and Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart)
MF - Wataru Endo (Stuttgart), Gaku Shibasaki (Leganes), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton & Hove Albion), Takumi Minamino (Monaco), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting), Junya Ito (Reims), Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Dusseldorf) and Yuki Soma (Nagoya Grampus)
FW - Takuma Asano (VfL Bochum), Ayase Ueda (Cercle Brugge) and Daizen Maeda (Celtic)