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".