Japan to send best possible team to Asian Cup

Japan will field their strongest possible team at the Asian Cup in Qatar in January, including their Europe-based stars, despite a clash with European league calendars, reports said Friday.

“Manager (Alberto) Zaccheroni wants to take along the best members as a matter of course,” Japan Football Association technical director Hiromi Hara told Japanese media on Thursday. “This applies to players in Europe as well.”

“It will be the most prestigious tournament in Asia,” he was quoted as saying.

Japan, three-time Asian Cup champions, hope to regain the title they lost in 2007.

The Asian Cup, which is held every four years, is usually staged in the middle of the year but will be played from January 7 to 29 to avoid the hottest months in the Gulf state.

The schedule means the tournament will be played while most European leagues are in the middle of their season.

Hara said he had sent letters to the clubs of Europe-based Japanese players, requesting they be released for the continental cup.

The Japan squad that shocked Argentina 1-0 at home on October 8 with Zaccheroni in charge for the first time included nine Europe-based players.

Among them were CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda, new Tom Tomsk signing Daisuke Matsui, Borussia Dortmund’s Shinji Kagawa, Wolfsburg midfielder Makoto Hasebe and Cesena defender Yuto Nagatomo.

Zaccheroni will hold a training camp at home from around December 26 and the squad will leave for Qatar on January 3, Hara said.