Southampton: Saints without Yoshida in January after Asian Cup call-up
By Marc Walker
Southampton will be without defender Maya Yoshida in January after he was called up to Japan’s final squad for the 2019 Asian Cup.
The tournament is to be played in the United Arab Emirates next month and will see the Saints man miss a number of games for his club.
Japan face Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Oman in the group stage and play their first game on the 9th January.
The final is scheduled for the 1st February and that means Yoshida could miss Saints games against Derby County (FA Cup), Leicester, Everton, Crystal Palace and potentially Burnley if Japan were to reach it.
Japan have won the most Asian Cup titles of any country so far and were champions in 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2011.
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Yoshida is likely to a significant absentee for Saints whilst away with his country.
He has proven to be a reliable presence in defence and looks to have worked his way back into starting line-ups following a spell amongst the substitutes.
The 30-year-old is considered one of Japan’s most high-profile players and currently has 88 caps to his name. He has also appeared at the 2011 and 2015 Asian Cup finals.
Yoshida will be joined by fellow Premier League players Heung-Min Son (Spurs and South Korea), Mat Ryan (Brighton and Australia), Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield and Australia), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Brighton and Iran), Yoshinori Muto (Newcastle and Japan) and Ki Sung-yueng (Newcastle and South Korea) in the UAE.
Full Japan squad
Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi (Gamba Osaka), Shuichi Gonda (Sagan Tosu), Daniel Schmidt (Vegalta Sendai)
Defenders: Maya Yoshida (Southampton), Yuto Nagatomo (Galatasaray SK), Tomoaki Makino (Urawa Red Diamonds), Sho Sasaki (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Hiroki Sakai (Olympique Marseille), Sei Muroya (FC Tokyo), Genta Miura (Gamba Osaka), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Sint-Truidense VV)
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Genki Haraguchi (Hannover 96), Gaku Shibasaki (Getafe CF), Wataru Endo (Sint-Truidense VV), Junya Ito (Kashiwa Reysol), Shoya Nakajima (Portimonense SC), Takumi Minamino (Red Bull Salzburg), Hidemasa Morita (Kawasaki Frontale), Ritsu Doan (FC Groningen)
Forwards: Yuya Osako (SV Werder Bremen), Takuma Asano (Hannover 96), Koya Kitagawa (Shimizu S-Pulse), Yoshinori Muto (Newcastle United)