A young Japan side selected to play in the Copa America has come under fire from Latin American media for fielding an under-strength team.

Hajime Moriyasu’s 23-men squad comprises mainly Tokyo Olympics players the likes of Takefusa Kubo, Keisuke Osako, Hiroki Abe, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Yuta Nakayama who will be led by veterans Shinji Okazaki and Eiji Kawashima, along with key national team players Shoya Nakajima and Gaku Shibasaki.

Reacting to the squad announcement, Latin American sports channel Univision Deportes said scathingly, “It seems like invited nation Japan is sending a ‘B team’ to Brazil.”

“Hajime Moriyasu has expressed that he is using the Copa America as preparations to win the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics next year. Well, 17 of the the 23 members are Olympics players. With the exceptions of Shinji Okazaki, Eiji Kawashima and Gaku Shibasaki, who played at the 2018 World Cup, these freshlings are but the ‘B team’. The Japanese media had reported that they struggled to put together a team because clubs did not release their players for the tournament.”

The media did save a good word for Takefusa Kubo.

“A surprise pick is the 17 year-old Takefusa Kubo, who has been dubbed ‘the Japanese Messi’. He will attract the attention of European scouts. The Japan Football Association seems to think of the Copa America as a stage to showcase their young talents.”

Other notable young Europe-based players mentioned include Ko Itakura (Manchester City), Tatsuya Ito (Hamburger SV), Yuta Nakayama (PEC Zwolle) and Naomichi Ueda (Cercle Brugge).

“Will this Tokyo Olympics team produce any kind of results in Brazil? We expect this Japan B team to struggle.”

Japan will face Chile (17 June), Uruguay (20 June) and Ecuador (24 June) in the Copa America in Brazil. Will the young Samurai Blue spring a surprise and make the Latin American media eat their words?

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Source: Yahoo

Images: gettyimages, Yahoo