Japan claimed its third straight win in the second round of Asian qualifying for the 2022 World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Tajikistan on Tuesday. Takumi Minamino scored the first goal in the second half on a header. He finished with two goals, while ...
Koya Kitagawa replaces Yu Kobayashi for Samurai Blue friendlies
Forward Yu Kobayashi has withdrawn from the Japan squad for the upcoming friendlies against Panama and Uruguay because of an ankle injury, the Japan Football Association said Monday. The 31-year-old Kawasaki Frontale striker left the field in the 82nd minute of Sunday's 0-0 draw between ...
Halilhodzic reveals roster for upcoming friendlies
National team manager Vahid Halilhodzic on Thursday warned World Cup qualifying heroes Takuma Asano and Yosuke Ideguchi to force their way onto their club teams or risk missing out on this summer's tournament in Russia as he named his squad for two friendly matches ...
Takuma Asano scored his first goal in the German Bundesliga on Friday, while forward Yuya Kubo's strike helped seal Belgian club Gent's 3-1 victory over Mouscron. Asano, currently on loan from Arsenal, opened the scoring in the 24th minute of Stuttgart's 1-1 draw with Hanover, ...
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 ...
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 ...
Japan's on-loan Arsenal striker Takuma Asano scored his second goal for German second tier team Stuttgart in a 3-1 home win over Nuremburg on Monday. The 22-year-old speedster, who started in left midfield, broke clear and unselfishly cut back for Simon Terodde to tap home ...
Honda sweats on place in World Cup qualifier against Saudis
National team manager Vahid Halilhodzic has warned star player Keisuke Honda that he is not guaranteed of a starting place when Japan takes on Saudi Arabia in a crucial World Cup qualifier next Tuesday. Honda started Japan's 4-0 friendly win over Oman at Kashima Stadium ...
Japan striker Takuma Asano opened his account for Stuttgart on Sunday, scoring the opener in his side's 3-1 derby win away to Karlsruher in the Bundesliga second division. Asano, who is on loan in Germany from English Premier League giants Arsenal, fired the visitors in ...
Japan beats Thailand to get World Cup qualifying campaign up and running
Japan got its World Cup qualifying final-round campaign up and running by beating Thailand 2-0 in Bangkok on Tuesday night for its first win in Asian zone Group B. Genki Haraguchi opened the scoring in the 18th minute at a packed but rain-soaked Rajamangala Stadium, ...
Stuttgart striker Takuma Asano has bizarrely blamed himself for the goal that never was in Japan's shock 2-1 World Cup qualifying defeat against the United Arab Emirates last week. Now the striker, who recently represented Japan at the Rio Olympics, wants to take out his ...
Honda slams referee after 'ghost goal' haunts Japan's loss to UAE
Japan forward Keisuke Honda once again issued a damning verdict on the standard of Asia's referees after the Samurai Blue were denied a seemingly legitimate goal in Thursday's 2-1 World Cup-qualifying loss to the United Arab Emirates. Honda, who accused Qatari referee Abdulrahman Hussain of ...
