Liverpool's Takumi Minamino and Villarreal's Takefusa Kubo were among the 25 members named in Japan's national squad that will play in the upcoming friendlies in the Netherlands, the Japan Football Association announced Thursday.
Japan faces Cameroon on Oct. 9 and Cote d'Ivoire on Oct. 13 at Stadion Galgenwaard in Utrecht. The Samurai Blue will be playing their first matches of the year following a string of postponements and cancellations caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
"We haven't been active for almost a year, so I want to reaffirm the fundamentals and unify our intentions," Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu said during an online press conference.