Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma, one of the hottest prospects to move from the J. League to Europe in recent years, is nearing his World Cup debut this month in Qatar.
Although he was named to Japan's 26-man squad on Tuesday, the 25-year-old feared for a time that his World Cup dream might be over before it began.
He hurt his right ankle moments after entering an English Premier League game in the 46th minute on Oct.14 but gutted it out until full time.