Players from the J1 League will provide the dominant color in the 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship. This tournament is the AFF Cup of East Asian countries.
The EAFF or East Asian Cup is a regional event which was first held in 2003. The 2022 East Asian Cup will be held from 19 to 27 July 2022.
South Korea is the most successful participant in this event with a record of winning five times. China followed behind with two-time champions, and the other edition was won by Japan.
The East Asian Cup winners will then qualify for the AFF-EAFF Champions Trophy against the Southeast Asian champions (AFF Cup). The AFF-EAFF Champions Trophy is a new tournament which will be held every two years.
The 2022 East Asian Cup was originally supposed to be held in China, but they were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Japan then took over that role as host of the tournament, as well as being the fourth time for the Blue Samurai.
Meanwhile, North Korea withdrew from the qualifying round, while the four teams that qualified for the finals in this edition were determined through the highest FIFA rankings for the March 31, 2022 edition. Japan as the host will have guests from China, South Korea and Hong Kong.
Kashima Soccer Stadium in Kashima Prefecture and Toyota Stadium in Toyota, Nagoya, will be the two venues used for this event. A total of four countries will compete against each other in one group with a single round-robin system; each country meets once, with the owner of the most points will emerge as the champion.
J1 League as the highest competition in Japan will give the dominant color in the event later. Because Japan decided its team was strengthened by all players competing in the local league, no players from European clubs were called up.
But there are still some big names that are included by the Japanese national team for this event. On the front lines there is Yoshinori Muto, a former Newcastle United striker who is now in Vissel Kobe uniform.
With a record of 29 caps and 3 goals, Muto is the player with the most caps and goals in the squad that Japan brought this time. In addition, there are also two strikers who are currently on fire, Takuma Nishimura (Yokohama F. Marinos) and Shuto Machino (Shonan Bellmare) who have both scored eight goals in the Meiji Yasuda J1 League 2022.
In midfield, there is the name of former Arsenal midfielder, Ryo Miyaichi, who now plays at Yokohama F. Marinos. In addition, there is also midfielder Vissel Kobe who has just signed from Russian League club Rostov, Kento Hashimoto.
The young Marinos player who has Nigerian blood from his father, Joel Chima Fujita, was also called up to strengthen the Blue Samurai in this tournament.
On the back line, there are several names that are regularly called by the Japanese national team, such as Sho Sasaki (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale), and Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale).
Of the 26 players who were brought in, Yokohama F. Marinos contributed the most players by sending seven representatives to the Japanese national team. Sanfrecce Hiroshima was behind Marinos with six players, followed by Kawasaki Frontale (3 players) and Shonan Bellmare (3 players).
Japan national team squad for 2022 East Asian Cup:
-Kiper
Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Kosei Tani (Shonan Bellmare)
Zion Suzuki (Urawa Red Diamonds)
-Bek
Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale)
Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale)
Shinnosuke Hatanaka (Yokohama F. Marinos)
Ryuta Koike (Yokohama F. Marinos)
Sho Sasaki (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Hayato Araki (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Shinnosuke Nakatani (Nagoya Grampus)
Daiki Sugioka (Shonan Bellmare)
-Middle
Tsukasa Morishima (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Makoto Mitsuta (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Gakuto Notsuda (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Tomoki Iwata (Yokohama F. Marinos)
Joel Chima Fujita (Yokohama F. Marinos)
Ryo Miyaichi (Yokohama F. Marinos)
Kota Mizunuma (Yokohama F. Marinos)
Yasuto Wakizaka (Kawasaki Frontale)
Kento Hashimoto (Vissel Kobe)
Yuki Soma (Nagoya Grampus)
Takuma Ominami (Kashiwa Reysol)
-Front
Takuma Nishimura (Yokohama F. Marinos)
Mao Hosoya (Kashiwa Reysol)
Shuto Machino (Shonan Bellmare)
Yoshinori Muto (Vissel Kobe).
(aff/mrp)
