Miyaichi poised to make Japan debut
Reuters - Saturday 25 February 2012, 07:26
Bolton Wanderers winger Ryo
Miyaichi is set to make his international debut against
Uzbekistan next week after being called up by Japan coach
Alberto Zaccheroni on Saturday.
The 19-year-old Miyaichi scored a fine goal in his first
start for Bolton last weekend in an FA Cup tie at Millwall
following his loan move from English Premier League rivals
Arsenal.
"He has not been involved in the Japan Under-23 (Olympic)
team so he was a good option," Zaccheroni told a news conference
before Wednesday's dead rubber World Cup qualifier in Toyota.
"He has a lot of quality and has been catching the eye at
Bolton. That's why he's been called up."
Zaccheroni called up 11 Europe-based players after relying
solely on selections from the J.League for Friday's 3-1 win over
Iceland in Japan's first match of 2012.
However, the Italian insisted he would not fly Miyaichi all
the way from Europe simply to warm the bench during Wednesday's
Group C match.
"Miyaichi did very well last season when he was playing in
Holland [at Feyenoord on loan from Arsenal]," Zaccheroni added.
"He is showing his quality again at Bolton, so he has a good
chance of playing."
Both Japan and Uzbekistan are already through to the final
round of Asian 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
Europe-based strikers Tadanari Lee and Mike Havenaar have
been brought back while midfielder Shinji Kagawa, an injury
doubt, could be added if he is involved for Borussia Dortmund
this weekend.
Group leaders Uzbekistan will be missing playmaker Server
Djeparov and four other regulars through suspension.
The players were found guilty of deliberate time-wasting
against North Korea to pick up their second yellow cards of the
qualifying stage and serve the resulting suspension in the
meaningless final game.
FIFA added a second game ban to each of the five players,
who will also miss the opening match of the fourth qualifying
round.