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Nakamura, Morimoto named to Japan squad for S Africa, HK games

Friday 06th November, 04:56 AM JST

TOKYO —

Japan coach Takeshi Okada on Thursday picked Espanyol midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura, Catania striker Takayuki Morimoto and four other European-based players for upcoming matches away to South Africa and Hong Kong. Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg), Keisuke Honda (VVV Venlo), Daisuke Matsui (Grenoble) and Junichi Inamoto (Rennes) were also named to the 21-man squad for a World Cup warm-up against next year’s 2010 tournament hosts South Africa on Nov 14 and an Asian Cup qualifier in Hong Kong on Nov 18.
   
‘‘This is a rare chance for us to play quality opposition away,’’ Okada said of meeting with South Africans. ‘‘I think it will be a good experience in South Africa for the whole team including the staff.’’ Jubilo Iwata’s J-League leading striker Ryoichi Maeda was one of seven players left out after featuring in the squad that beat Hong Kong, Scotland and Togo last month.

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