Japan announce squad for World Cup qualifiers

The squad will play Oman in Yokohama on Monday, travel to Muscat for the return on June 7 and face Thailand away on June 14, the Japan Football Association said in a statement.

Okada will then reconsider the line-up for Japan's final Asian Group 2 match against Bahrain at home on June 22.

Bahrain, who shocked Japan 1-0 in March, stand top of the group table with two wins and six points. Japan and Oman trail with three points and Thailand remain winless after two matches.

The top two finishers will advance to the final Asian qualifying round from September.

Okada used Europe-based players for the first time when Japan beat under-strength Ivory Coast 1-0 and drew scoreless with Paraguay in the Kirin Cup friendly tournament in the past week.

He retained his Kirin Cup squad for the upcoming World Cup battles.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata), Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale)

Defenders: Shuhei Terada (Kawasaki Frontale), Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama Marinos), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Urawa Reds), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata), Yuki Abe (Urawa Reds), Yusuke Igawa (Kawasaki Frontale), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers)

Midfielders: Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic/SCO), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Daisuke Matsui (Saint Etienne/FRA), Keita Suzuki (Urawa Reds), Koji Yamase (Yokohama F Marinos), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Makoto Hasebe (VfL Wolfsburg/GER), Shinji Kagawa (Cerezo Osaka)

Forwards: Naohiro Takahara (Urawa Reds), Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus), Seiichiro Maki (JEF United Chiba), Yoshito Okubo (Vissel Kobe), Kisho Yano (Albirex Niigata)