Excluding Son Heung-min's surprise, Japan's shock national team list is announced, and Hong Myung-bo and a completely different plan A are stubborn

Oct 02, 2025

Excluding Son Heung-min's surprise, Japan's shock national team list is announced, and Hong Myung-bo and a completely different plan A are stubborn
Sportschosun DB



Japan, which meets the same A match opponent as Korea, announced the national team list in October.

Japan will play Paraguay at Panasonic Stadium in Osaka on the 10th and Brazil at Tokyo Stadium in Tokyo on the 14th. South Korea is scheduled to meet Paraguay after the match against Brazil.

Japan had a change in the starting list. Strikers and midfielder positions include Endo Wataru (Liverpool), Junya Ito (KRC Genk), Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco), Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), Henry Kaiki Mochizuki, Yuki Soma (Machida Zelvia), Daizen Ogawa (NEC Nimehen), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Doan Ritz (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord), Ao Tanaka (Liz United), Shuto Machino (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Keito Nakamura (Stad Lang Lang). It was unconventional that Kaoru Mitoma, who is active in Brighton and boasts Asia's highest ransom, was excluded.
Excluding Son Heung-min's surprise, Japan's shock national team list is announced, and Hong Myung-bo and a completely different plan A are stubborn
Photo = Japanese Football Association
Veteran Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Shogo Taniguchi (Sint Trawidon), Tsuyoshi Itakura (Ajax), Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Feyenoord), Tomoya Ando (Avisa Fukuoka), Ayumu Seko (Le Havre AC), and Junnosuke Suzuki (FC Copenhagen) were listed as defenders. Suzuki Zaion (Parma), Osako Keisuke (Sanprecce Hiroshima), and Hayakawa Tomoki (Kashima Antlers) were selected as goalkeepers.




It is a completely different style of list composition from Korea. After completing the trip to the World Cup finals, South Korea's national team coach Hong Myung-bo set a new Plan A and began experimenting with 300 tactics. Korea made a realistic choice because it is strong in Asia, but its objective power is not high in the World Cup. With the three-back change, the team has more defenders. Eleven defenders were selected for this October's A-match.
Excluding Son Heung-min's surprise, Japan's shock national team list is announced, and Hong Myung-bo and a completely different plan A are stubborn
Sportschosun DB
Japanese coach Hajime Moriyasu is showing his determination to push ahead with the existing Plan A. Since it uses a four-back-based tactic, only eight defenders have been selected. Japan has selected a large number of strong third- and second-line resources, strengthening its willingness to test whether Plan A works against Brazil and Paraguay.

Coach Hajime has the burden of taking care of both the results and contents in this October's A match. Criticism was also considerable within Japan as it brought a shocking result of 1 draw and 1 loss against the United States and Mexico in the A-match in September.

Japan is the strongest in Asia, but the results of the U.S. away game gave Japan a feeling like a frog in a well. Unlike Japan, Japan's sluggishness was further compared as South Korea won one win and one draw against the United States and Mexico. Recently, Japan's FIFA ranking has also been falling. Director Hajime's shoulders became heavier.






This article was translated by Naver AI translator.