World Cup striker Yoshito Okubo has branded Japan's East Asian Cup squad a bunch of nobodies and is not surprised by the team's dismal showing at the tournament in China.
Japan takes on the host nation in its final game on Sunday with the possibility of retaining the title already gone, having lost its opener 2-1 to North Korea before scraping a 1-1 draw against South Korea three days later.
Manager Vahid Halilhodzic has taken an experimental squad of domestic-based players to the tournament, but could find no place for Okubo despite the Kawasaki Frontale striker topping the J. League scoring charts for the past two seasons and bagging 14 league goals so far this year.