The Japan Football Association has announced that we have selected our over-age players for the Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016 (men), which will kick off on 4 August.

Over-age players for the Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016 (men)

FUJIHARU Hiroki
DF　Club: Gamba Osaka　DOB: 28 November 1988　175cm/60kg

SHIOTANI Tsukasa
DF　Club: Sanfrecce Hiroshima　DOB: 5 December 1988　182cm/80kg

Coach Comment

TEGURAMORI Makoto, Coach
The players will be required toughness in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. In that regard, both players are tough. FUJIHARU Hiroki can run up and down the pitch while SHIOTANI Tsukasa is good at competing against an opponent and has height, so they are expected to raise our defence and offence for the team’s defensive units. Both players for sure have more experience than other U-23 players. They have yet to become regular players for SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team), but they are players that have a lot of rooms to grow. While they are expected to raise the level of the U-23 Japan National Team, we think they have a chance to develop into better players on this team, which looks at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.