Eaff E-1 championship-cheehimura, Sota excluded for Japan; Hara, Tanaka called

Japan had to make two late changes to his team for the Eaff E-1 championship, with forward Takuma Nishimura and midfielder Kawasaki Sota excluded days before the tournament.

Nishimura, a former J1 League winner at Yokohama Marinos, was excluded from the team because of a concussion, said the Japan Football Association (JFA) Monday.

The 28-year-old came from the Marinos this season at Machida Zelvia and scored six goals, helping three more, in the most important division of Japanese senior men’s football.

He was an integral part of the Japanese side who had won the last edition of the E-1 championship three years ago.

Kyoto Sanga Vooruit Taichi Hara replaced the 28-year-old and earned his first senior team call-up under Hajime Moriyasu. This season he has two goals and seven assists in the J1 League.

Kawasaki Sota is the other name that will miss the tournament, where the Kyoto Sanga Midfielder completes his move to Bundesliga Side Mainz.

Satoshi Tanaka, 22, who plays for Sanfrecce Hiroshima, will replace Sanga in the team.

«This was approved as an extra call-up after discussions with the East Asian football federation, the organizers of the tournament, to replace Kawasaki Sota (Kyota Sanga FC), who could not participate due to club conditions,» the JFA said in a statement.

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Tanaka was a member of the Japanese side who won the AFC Asian Cup under 23 last year. Earlier this year he won the Japanese Super Cup with Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Japan, which defeated South Korea to win the previous edition, has appointed a completely domestic team for the tournament, with the competition from the FIFA International calendar.

It starts his campaign against Hong Kong on July 8 and plays China four days later. The last match will be against host Zuid -Korea, the most successful team in the tournament with five titles.