The Samurai Blue are coming from increasingly far away.
Head coach Hajime Moriyasu¡¯s squad for Japan¡¯s Thursday friendly against Paraguay and next Tuesday¡¯s Asian joint qualifier at Myanmar in Yangon features 19 Europe-based players ¡ª the largest overseas contingent ever summoned for the side.
The number of J. League players in Japan¡¯s squad has steadily declined from 1998¡¯s all-domestic lineup in France to just eight in Russia last year. While some have pushed back on Moriyasu¡¯s decision to include so many players from overseas, the former Sanfrecce Hiroshima boss is confident in the path he¡¯s laid out to Qatar 2022.
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