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Blue Samurai downplay Kagawa absence
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Blue Samurai downplay Kagawa absence
AFP - Saturday, January 29
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Blue Samurai downplay Kagawa absence
DOHA (AFP) - – Japan's players insist that their squad is deep enough to accommodate for the absence of injured forward Shinji Kagawa in their Asian Cup final showdown with Australia on Saturday.
The 21-year-old Borussia Dortmund star flew back to Germany from Doha on Thursday after breaking a bone in his foot in Japan's penalty shoot-out victory over South Korea in the semi-finals.
Having scored twice and created the winning goal in the 3-2 quarter-final win over Qatar, Kawgawa was a key component of the Japanese attack, but centre-back Maya Yoshida said the side could cope without him.
"We have our playing style and we should not change it because he is missing," Yoshida told the tournament website.
"Our reserve players have been training well and they have good motivation so I think that we can cover for Kagawa."
Goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima, who saved two penalties in the 3-0 spot-kick success against South Korea, said having a deep squad was essential for any team with aspirations of winning a major title.
"Hes a really important player for the team, but in the Asian Cup its important to not only play with 11 players but to also have other players ready," he said.
"We know that in the final we will have to fight with all of our players so we are just going to concentrate on getting the job done with the players that we have available now."
Kagawa's injury could rule him out for the rest of the European league season and Japan's coach Alberto Zaccheroni lamented the fact he had been struck down amid such a rich vein of form.
"It's very disappointing for the team. If you think about him, it's very disappointing for him too," said the Italian.
"He contributed to the team a lot on the way to the final and his condition was getting better and better, so we were very disappointed."
With experienced midfielder Daisuke Matsui also unavailable through injury, Zaccheroni will likely have to choose between Yosuke Kashiwagi and Jungo Fujimoto to take Kagawa's left flank role.
Fujimoto has been tipped to replace Kagawa by the Japanese media, but he has only made one appearance in the tournament to date, as an injury-time substitute in the group game against Jordan.
Urawa Reds' Kashiwagi, meanwhile, played for 90 minutes as a replacement for Keisuke Honda in the 5-0 group stage demolition of Saudi Arabia.
"I'm prepared to play whenever I get the call," Kashiwagi told Japanese media. "I'm ready to give it 100 percent. But first and foremost, the important thing is to get in the game."
He added: "It's too bad because I wanted Shinji to be with us until the end and we'll all play for him in the final.
"I might not be able to play like Shinji, but I hope to play to the best of my ability if I get in."
Zaccheroni said he had already decided on Kagawa's replacement, but refused to reveal who it was.
"I have the player who will replace him in my head already," said Zaccheroni.
"I know this player well, from watching his J-League matches. I trust this player and have no worries about sending him on the pitch tomorrow."
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