Former Japan captain Maya Yoshida on Tuesday vowed to return to the national team fold as he voiced his excitement at joining LA Galaxy in Major League Soccer.
The 34-year-old, who played in three straight World Cups and captained the Samurai Blue in 2022 in Qatar, left German side Schalke at the end of last season after it was relegated from the Bundesliga's top tier.
"My immediate target is to make the playoffs and perform well throughout the rest of the season to head to the Asian Cup (with Japan in Qatar in January)," Yoshida, who has not been called up by national team head coach Hajime Moriyasu since the World Cup late last year, told a news conference in Carson, near Los Angeles.