NEWSWORTHY
Nishino to pass torch as manager
National team manager Akira Nishino predicted Thursday that Japan will improve on its 2018 World Cup performance by reaching the quarterfinals in 2022, but he will not be around to lead the charge after the Japan Football Association announced it would not extend his ...
Japan captain Makoto Hasebe announces international retirement
Japan captain Makoto Hasebe announced Tuesday he is retiring from the national team, a day after the Samurai Blue were knocked out of the World Cup by Belgium. Hasebe took to social media to make the announcement, posting on Instagram that it is time for ...
Despite disappointing departure, Samurai Blue exceeded expectations at World Cup
Japan's exit from the World Cup on Monday was soccer at its cruelest, but once the dust has settled the team will be able to look back on its campaign with pride and satisfaction. Japan was denied a first-ever place in the quarterfinals after a ...
Japan captain Makoto Hasebe admits he feels 'responsible' for Vahid Halilhodzic getting fired
Japan captain Makoto Hasebe said Monday he feels partly to blame for the sacking of national head coach Vahid Halilhodzic ahead of the World Cup finals in Russia. "I feel responsible as a player," Hasebe told reporters after training with his German Bundesliga club Eintracht ...
Japan midfielder Makoto Hasebe reached a milestone when he made his 250th appearance in the German top flight Sunday, but Eintracht Frankfurt was beaten by Augsburg 3-0 away for its first loss in 2018. Hasebe, who is in his 11th season in the Bundesliga, played ...
Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Makoto Hasebe, who has been sidelined with pain in his right knee, made his full return to training, the German first-division club said on its official website Tuesday. Hasebe missed his club's game against Stuttgart on Sept. 30 after playing the full ...
Muto, Asano included on 24-man Japan squad for October friendlies
Mainz striker Yoshinori Muto and Stuttgart striker Takuma Asano were among the foreign-based players named on the Japan national team for next month's friendly soccer games against New Zealand and Haiti, the Japan Football Association said Thursday. But regulars Keisuke Honda of Pachuca, Shinji Okazaki ...
Ideguchi vows to keep improving
Man of the moment Yosuke Ideguchi is refusing to get carried away by his heroics against Australia, but hopes to get another chance to shine by retaining his place in the starting lineup for Japan's final World Cup qualifier away to Saudi Arabia on ...
Japan secures spot in sixth consecutive World Cup
Takuma Asano and Yosuke Ideguchi scored in each half to book Japan's place at the 2018 World Cup with a 2-0 win over Australia on Thursday. Japan went into the game at Saitama Stadium knowing that it would qualify for a sixth straight World Cup ...
Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Makoto Hasebe has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and will be sidelined for the rest of the 2016-17 Bundesliga season that ends in late May, the German club said Thursday. The 33-year-old Japan captain was told by doctors at a ...
Captain Hasebe to skip World Cup qualifiers due to knee injury
Japan captain Makoto Hasebe said Monday he will fly home for further tests after a right knee injury forced him to withdraw from the national team's upcoming final-round World Cup qualifiers against UAE and Thailand. The 33-year-old midfielder will depart having only arrived in the ...
Kagawa confident Japan can cope without Hasebe
Borussia Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa believes Japan has enough strength in depth to cover for Makoto Hasebe if the national team captain is forced, as expected, to sit out Thursday's World Cup qualifier away to the United Arab Emirates. Hasebe arrived in the UAE on ...
