ADO Den Haag striker Mike Havenaar returned to the national team fold and two-time World Cup goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima won a recall as Japan coach Vahid Halilhodzic on Thursday named his squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers at home to Afghanistan and Syria.
Yu Kobayashi is also back along with Gotoku Sakai, while regulars Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa and Shinji Okazaki were selected as expected for the last two games of second-round qualifying on March 24 and 29.
Havenaar has not been called up for national team duty since October 2014 but the 194-cm striker has forced his way into Halilhodzic's plans with an impressive strike rate this season.