Japan captain Makoto Hasebe will join up with the national team in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday as scheduled ahead of its crunch World Cup qualifier here, despite his German club Eintracht Frankfurt saying he would soon have to undergo knee surgery.
Frankfurt said Saturday that Hasebe, 33, would need to have an operation on the knee sometime after Monday. But a Japan Football Association source said Sunday that Hasebe would join up with the team and that coach Vahid Halilhodzic would consult team medical staff before deciding on a course of action.
Japan faces the UAE on Thursday and then takes on Thailand at home in another Group B game in Saitama on March 28.