Japan’s men’s soccer squad for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris was announced on Wednesday. For the first time since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the squad does not include players who are overage.
There were rumors that veterans like Liverpool’s Wataru Endo (31) could fill the 18-man squad. For the Olympic football tournament, the squad must consist mainly of players under 23. However, head coach Go Oiwa named 16 players who won the U-23 Asian Cup in May.
Another surprising omission was FC Tokyo’s rising star Kuryu Matsuki. Oiwa declined to comment on players who were not chosen during a press conference in Tokyo, but he repeatedly referred to the “constraints” within which the Japan Football Association (JFA) had to work when selecting players.
