Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu has received a huge boost over his World Cup chances after being named in the Japan 26-man squad.
Tomiyasu and Japan face the tough task of overcoming Germany, Spain and Costa Rica in their World Cup group this month, but the Gunners star's chances of representing his nation were struck with a blow when he was forced off with injury last week.
The defender replaced Ben White after 73 minutes in Arsenal's final Europa League group game against Zurich on Thursday after starting the previous five fixtures for Mikel Arteta's side. However, he appeared to pick up an injury and Arteta told football.london that the 24-year-old "felt something".
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Tomiyasu missed the victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge but was named in Japan's 26-man squad by Hajime Moriyasu on Monday. They face Canada in Dubai on Thursday, November 17 before kicking off their World Cup campaign six days later against Germany.
Speaking after his squad announcement, Moriyasu provided an update on his stance regarding Tomiyaus: "I’ve been told that he can return to work before the start of the World Cup, that he will recover without giving up & face it in good condition.”
It's expected that Arteta will leave Tomiyasu out of Arsenal's remaining two games against Brighton and Wolves to ensure the right-back recovers in good time. The tournament will be Tomiyasu's first appearance in the competition for Japan after making his national team debut a couple of months after Russia 2018.
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