Captain Endo out of World Cup and retires from Japan duty
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Japan captain Wataru Endo has retired from international football after withdrawing from their World Cup squad because of injury.The Liverpool midfielder, 33, has not played domestic football since February after surgery on a foot injury, but featured in the first half of Japan's friendly with Iceland at the end of May.The 33-year-old, who scored four goals in 73 games for his country, has not fully recovered and been replaced in the squad by Borussia Monchengladbach's Shuto Machino.Endo, who made his Japan debut in 2015, said: "Since my injury, I've done everything I possibly could up to this point, so I have no regrets whatsoever. The current team is truly a wonderful team.
I believe they will overcome any adversity and show us sights we've never seen before."His absence is the latest World Cup blow for Japan after Brighton forward Kaoru Mitoma was ruled out with a hamstring injury.The 29-year-old was hurt in the Seagulls' 3-0 win against Wolves and missed the club's final two Premier League games of the season against Leeds United and Manchester United.Japan, in Group F, begin their tournament against the Netherlands on 14 June before games against Tunisia on 21 June and Sweden five days later. Manager Hajime Moriyasu named his squad on 15 May, with Crystal Palace's Daichi Kamada, fellow midfielder Ao Tanaka of Leeds and Celtic's Daizen Maeda all included.
The expanded 48-team World Cup is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Midfielders: Junya Ito (Genk), Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), Koki Ogawa (NEC Nijmegen), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Ritsu Doan (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ao Tanaka (Leeds United), Kaishu Sano (Mainz 05), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Shuto Machino (Borussia Monchengladbach)Forwards: Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord), Keito Nakamura (Stade de Reims), Ito Suzuki (SC Freiburg), Kento Shiode (Wolfsburg), Keisuke Goto (Sint-Truiden).