Japan Releases Squad List

Japan Coach and Brazilian legend Zico has released the list of players who will go against Ecuador in the March 30 friendly. Like La Tri, the Japanese will be without any of their European-club players. Unlike La Tri, Japan have a coach who does not savvy that nation’s lingo, and is therefore petitioning FIFA to allow Zico’s interpreter to assist him despite the rule forbidding more than one person from giving instructions from the coach’s box. The full list of players is after the jump.

Goalkeepers:
Yoichi Doi (FC Tokyo)
Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata)
Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus Eight)

Defenders:
Makoto Tanaka (Iwata)
Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (Gamba Osaka)
Alessandro Santos (Urawa Red Diamonds)
Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama Marinos)
Keisuke Tsuboi (Urawa)
Shinji Murai (Iwata)
Akira Kaji (Tokyo)
Yuichi Komano (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Teruyuki Minowa (Tokyo)

Midfielders:
Takashi Fukunishi (Iwata)
Mitsuo Ogasawara (Kashima)
Shinji Ono (Urawa)
Yasuhito Endo (Osaka)
Yuki Abe (JEF United Chiba)
Makoto Hasebe (Urawa)

Forwards:
Tatsuhiko Kubo (Yokohama)
Atsuhi Yanagisawa (Kashima)
Keiji Tamada (Nagoya)
Seiichiro Maki (Chiba)
Hisato Sato (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)