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Japan's manager Hajime Moriyasu on Friday named a young and inexperienced team for the upcoming Copa America in Brazil, giving a glimpse of his potential roster for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
FC Tokyo star Takefusa Kubo, 17, is starring a host of newcomers who will be eligible for next year's Men's Olympic Football Tournament, which will be played by teams under 23. years with a limited number of surplus players.
In total, Moriyasu has named 17 uncapped players for the Copa America from June 14 to July 7, where Japan will participate as a guest nation and will face Chile, Uruguay and Ecuador in Group C .
"I have selected many age group players for the Tokyo Olympics," Moriyasu said. "I wanted young players to get ahead of the Olympics next year by participating in this wonderful tournament, the Copa America."
Leicester City striker Shinji Okazaki and goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima from Strasbourg were among a handful of veterans with World Cup experience nominated in the team.
While Japan was originally scheduled to send a team of Olympic hopefuls to Brazil, Moriyasu then said he hoped to select his best formation for the tournament.
But the difficulty of obtaining the release of several pillars of the Samurai Blue from their clubs abroad could have influenced the decision to again use the South American continental tournament as a testing ground Olympic.
Copa America is sanctioned by FIFA, the world governing body of football, but clubs are only required to release players from the countries of the South American Federation of CONMEBOL.
"We are aiming for gold at the Tokyo Olympics, so I think players need to be able to succeed at the level of the senior national team to achieve our goal," said Moriyasu.
"I hope they'll grow up playing for the national team and winning as many matches as possible."
Defender Ko Itakura, 22, with Groningen in the Dutch Premier League and 21-year-old winger Tatsuya Ito of Hamburger SV in the German second division, are among the newcomers to the game.
Itakura signed at the beginning of the year with Manchester City, the English Premier League Champion, who immediately lent him to Groningen.
Ito won the Bundesliga rookie of the month award with Hamburg in April of last year. With only 1.6 meters, the former Japan U-21 is renowned for its ability to dribble.
The former young Barcelona player Kubo, who has excelled as offensive midfielder this season for FC Tokyo, received his first senior national call the day before, when he was named to the team's Samurai Blue for friendly matches next month against Trinidad and Tobago. Salvador.
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The Japanese selection for Copa America:
Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg), Ryosuke Kojima (Oita Trinita), Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima).
Defenders: Naomichi Ueda (Cercle Brugge), Ko Itakura (Groningen), Tomoki Iwata (Oita Trinita), Yugo Tatsuta (Shimizu S-Pulse), Teruki Hara (Sagan Tosu), Daiki Sugioka (Shonan Bellmare), Daiki Suga (Consadole S )), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Sint-Truiden).
Midfielders: Gaku Shibasaki (Getafe), Shoya Nakajima (Al-Duhail), Yuta Nakayama (PEC Zwolle), Koji Miyoshi (Yokohama F Marinos), Tatsuya Ito (Hamburger SV), Taishi Matsumoto (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Hiroki Abe (Kashima Antlers), Takefusa Kubo (Tokyo FC).
Forward: Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City), Daizen Maeda (Matsumoto Yamaga), Ayase Ueda (Hosei University).
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