Japan will take on a J. League select XI in a March 29 charity match in Osaka after New Zealand pulled out of a friendly on the same date, the Japan Football Association announced Thursday.
The JFA on Wednesday canceled a planned March 25 game against Montenegro due to the disastrous effects of last Friday's massive earthquake, but hoped to save the New Zealand fixture by switching the venue from Tokyo's National Stadium to Nagai Stadium in Osaka and donating the proceeds to relief efforts in Japan and Christchurch, which was also hit by a devastating quake last month.
That plan fell by the wayside as New Zealand Football chairman Frank van Hattum on Thursday withdrew his team citing fears over Japan's ongoing nuclear crisis, but JFA president Junji Ogura was determined not to let the opportunity go to waste.