Tokyo: Japan and Inter Milan defender Yuto Nagatomo is a doubt for the Samurai Blue’s March 27 Kirin Cup clash with Tunisia after being ruled out for six weeks with a hamstring injury.
Nagatomo suffered a slight tear of his right hamstring while on duty for Japan at the recently concluded AFC Asian Cup in Australia, but aggravated the injury during Inter’s 3-0 Serie A win against Palermo last weekend.
The 28-year-old underwent an MRI scan in Italy which determined that he has a second degree hamstring strain, leaving a major question mark over his availability for next month’s meeting with the Tunisians in Oita.
The Kirin Cup encounter with Tunisia will be Japan’s first international outing since they crashed out of the 2015 Asian Cup at the quarter-final stage following a penalty shootout defeat to the UAE – a loss that hastened the departure of then head coach Javier Aguirre.
Japan will use the March friendly to fine-tune preparations for their joint 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia and AFC Asian Cup 2019 qualifying campaign which is scheduled to begin in June.
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