Japan reveal World Cup plan

Japan will face Ivory Coast on June 14 at the Arena Pernambuco and lock horns with Greece on June 19 before rounding off their group campaign on June 24 against Colombia at the Arena Pantanal.

The team have started training camp at the Tokyo-based Yogogi National Stadium from last Wednesday and they will face Cyprus national team in a friendly match on Tuesday at the Saitama Stadium.

The Blue Samurai contingent will then leave for the United States on May 29 where they will set another training camp which will feature two international friendly matches to fine-tune the side.

Alberto Zaccheroni’s side face Costa Rica on June 2 and four days later play another friendly against Zambia before heading for Brazil.

Meanwhile the Japan Football Association has also released the squad numbers of the national team for the World Cup. The following jersey numbers are conferred to the final squad of 23:

1. Eiji Kawashima

2. Shushaku Nishikawa

3. Shuichi Gonda

15.Yasuyuki Konno

19. Masahiko Inoha

20. Yuto Nagamoto

21. Masato Morishige

22. Atsuto Uchida

23. Maya Yoshida

24. Hiroki Sakai

25. Gotoku Sakai

26. Yasuhito Endo

27. Makoto Hasebe

28. Toshihiro Aoyama

29. Hotaru Yamaguchi

30. Yasuto Okubo

31. Shinji Okazaki

32. Keisuke Honda

33. Shinji Kagawa

34. Hiroshi Kiyotake

35. Yoichiro Kakitani

36. Manabu Saito

37. Yuya Osako