Japanese pride Asia's best fullback class ever!At 38, the director of the appointment of the captain of Japan's national university praised

Jul 03, 2025

Japanese pride Asia's best fullback class ever!At 38, the director of the appointment of the captain of Japan's national university praised
Sportschosun DB



Yuto Nagatomo's leadership must be acknowledged.

On the 3rd, the Japan Football Association announced the list of 26 players participating in the 2025 East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup) on its official website. Since it is difficult to convene a European team, Japan also selected only all players from the J League.

Hajime called 12 of the 26 players for the national team for the first time. This shows the intention to identify as many players as possible a year before the World Cup. A more surprising choice than having 12 first-time pickers was Nagatomo's boarding in 1986.




Nagatomo is recognized as the best fullback in Asian history. Nagatomo, who made his debut with FC Tokyo, made it to Serie A in Italy in 2010. He played for AC Chesena for only half a season and moved to Inter Milan, the strongest Serie A team at the time. Nagatomo became the main player of Inter Milan and continued to play. The trophy was only Copa Italy, but Nagatomo played as a member of Inter Milan until the winter transfer market in the 2017-2018 season. He was highly praised for playing 210 games in seven years.

Japanese pride Asia's best fullback class ever!At 38, the director of the appointment of the captain of Japan's national university praised
Sportschosun DB
Since then, he has been recognized for his performance even after moving to Galatasaray, a prestigious Turkiye club. After going through the French famous house of Marseille, he returned to his home city of Tokyo in 2022 and is still continuing his active career. He can't play every game, but he's playing a role as a veteran.

His national team career, which he made his debut in 2008, continues. After playing as a starting player in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he was responsible for Japan's side defense until the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Even after the World Cup, Nagatomo continues to contribute to the team as a playing coach for the Japanese national team.




With confidence in Nagatomo, Moriyasu decided to take over as captain during the East Asian Cup. "Nagatomo's attitude and attitude during training and on and off the field are the driving forces behind the growth of all players," Hajime said. As a representative of Japan, I will show the pride of the Japanese and contribute to the growth of everyone,' he said, explaining why he selected Nagatomo as the captain.
Japanese pride Asia's best fullback class ever!At 38, the director of the appointment of the captain of Japan's national university praised
However, since Nagatomo is highly likely not to play on the field, coach Hajime hopes that all 26 players will show leadership to the extent that they will say 'I will play the captaincy role'. I want him to work with a consciousness to contribute to the team," he said, asking the players. When the game is in progress, another player may be the captain instead of Nagatomo.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.