Japan coach may call up Europe based players

Japan coach Takeshi Okada may call up Europe-based players in preparation for a crucial World Cup qualifier against Oman next month.

Okada has already picked five players - Celtic's Shunsuke Nakamura, Basel's Koji Nakata, Eintracht Frankfurt's Junichi Inamoto, Wolfsburg's Makoto Hasebe and Le Mans' Daisuke Matsui - for the three-nation Kirin Cup later this month.

Okada has said that the Kirin Cup against Ivory Coast and Paraguay was "a tournament which directly affects the World Cup qualifiers."

Japan Football Association official Tsuyoshi Ono said Okada may keep the Europe-based stars for the World Cup qualifier against Oman on June 2 in Yokohama.

"It's only a possibility to call them up. It's not been decided yet," Ono said.

Three-time Asian champions Japan crashed in March to a shock 1-0 away defeat to Bahrain in the Asian qualifying Group 2, which also includes Oman and Thailand. The two top teams advance to the next round.

Bahrain have two wins for six points to lead the group. Japan and Oman have three points ahead of winless Thailand.

Japan play Oman and Thailand away next month, before returning home for a return match against Bahrain on June 22.

Sapa-AFP