Japan coach Nishino plays safe in shadow World Cup squad

TOKYO: New Japan coach Akira Nishino flagged his World Cup intentions on Friday by turning to his big hitters for the home friendly with Ghana on May 30.

Talismanic Japan forward Keisuke Honda and playmaker Shinji Kagawa — both thought to have been at loggerheads with sacked coach Vahid Halilhodzic — were included by Nishino among a group of 27 players.

Nishino, who took over from the Franco-Bosnian after the latter’s abrupt firing last month, is scheduled to name his final 23-man World Cup squad on May 31.“Of course I expect to pick the World Cup squad from these 27 players,” Nishino told reporters.

“Honda and Kagawa have been core players of the national team and I’ve called them up in the hope that they will be able to contribute.”Honda and Kagawa had both become more peripheral under Halilhodzic, but Nishino called up 17 overseas-based players to face Ghana in Yokohama in Japan’s final home World Cup warm-up.

Though Kagawa has been struggling with an ankle injury, Nishino wants to give the Borussia Dortmund player every chance to make the plane to Russia.

“Kagawa requires truly delicate thinking,” admitted Nishino.“We have high hopes for him, and want to make a final decision during this training camp. Without doubt he is a player who can’t be replaced.”

Leicester City striker Shinji Okazaki and Galatasaray full-back Yuto Nagatomo, who have both won over 100 caps, were also among those selected.Japan have been drawn alongside Colombia, Poland and Senegal in Group H at the World Cup.

Honda, currently playing for Mexico’s Pachuca, put the boot into Halilhodzic’s methods when he recently told Japanese television: “To submit myself to the kind of football Halilhodzic played would be shameful for me.”Honda’s goals helped Japan reach the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but Japan crashed out of the 2014 Brazil tournament at the group stage.