Courtesy: JFA


Futsal Japan’s World Cup squad named

Brazilian coach Sergio Sapo on Wednesday named a 14-member squad for the FIFA Futsal World Cup, slated for September 30-October 19 in Brazil.

The squad features familiar faces such as Kenichiro Kogure of Spanish club Guadalajara, Kensuke Takahashi of Segovia (also in Spain), Yuki Kanayama of Pescadola Machida and Kenta Fujii of Bardral Urayasu.

Joining them are three players from F. League champions Nagoya Oceans – goalkeeper Hisao Sadanaga, Yoshifumi Maeda and Wataru Kitahara.

The Japanese squad, who will be making their second appearance in the World Cup, will play two warm-up matches against the United States in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Friday and Sunday before heading to Brazil on Monday.

In the group stage, Japan will play Brazil on September 30, the opening day of the World Cup, the Solomon Islands on October 4 and Cuba on October 6 – all in Brasilia – before meeting Russia on October 8 in Rio de Janeiro.

A total of 20 teams have been divided into four groups of five for the group stage and the top two finishers will advance to the second group stage, slated for October 11-14. The top two finishers there will move on to the semifinals on October 16. The final will be held on October 19.

“Our practical target is to get through the first group stage,” Sapo said. “We’d like to play with a compact defense and launch counter-attacks.”

In the previous edition, Japan ended with a 0-1-2 win-draw-loss record to finish their campaign at the end of the group stage.

Squad:

Goalkeepers
Hisao Sadanaga (Nagoya Oceans)
Hisamitsu Kawahara (Bardral Urayasu)
Keisuke Aoyagi (Vasagey Oita)

Field players
Ricarudo Higa (Deucao Kobe)
Kenta Fujii (Bardral Urayasu)
Yoshifumi Maeda (Nagoya Oceans)
Yuki Kanayama (Pescadola Machida)
Kenichiro Kogure (Gestesa Guadalajara - SPAIN)
Yusuke Komiyama (Bardral Urayasu)
Daisuke Ono (Bardral Urayasu)
Kensuke Takahashi (Caja Segovia - SPAIN)
Wataru Kitahara (Nagoya Oceans)
Kotaro Inaba (Bardral Urayasu)
Nobuya Osodo (Vasagey Oita)

Head Coach: Sergio Sapo (Brazil)






Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com