CHIBA, Japan - Japan squad members entered camp Monday in preparation for the Samurai Blue's eighth straight World Cup starting next month, with several players back on home soil shortly after wrapping up their European club seasons.
Feyenoord forward Ayase Ueda, the Dutch Eredivisie's top scorer with 25 goals, Eintracht Frankfurt attacker Ritsu Doan and Mainz midfielder Kaishu Sano were among those who took part in a training session open to the public in Chiba east of Tokyo, cheered on by the fans in attendance.
Los Angeles Galaxy center-back Maya Yoshida, who captained Japan at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, also trained after he was added to the squad by manager Hajime Moriyasu for a one-off appearance in Sunday's send-off game against Iceland at Tokyo's MUFG Stadium.
The Samurai Blue will depart for Monterrey in Mexico on June 2 for a pretournament camp before moving to Nashville in the United States, their base for the tournament, which will be staged in three countries for the first time, with Canada also playing host.
Japan face the Netherlands in Dallas in their Group F opener on June 14. They will take on Tunisia in Monterrey on June 20 before facing Sweden back in Dallas five days later.
In Europe, Japan defenders Ko Itakura and Takehiro Tomiyasu both featured as substitutes as Ajax beat Utrecht 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the Dutch playoff final for a place in next season's Conference League qualifying.
Japan captain Wataru Endo returned from a left foot injury but remained on the bench as Liverpool drew 1-1 at home with Brentford in their final fixture of the English Premier League season.
Midfielder Daichi Kamada came off at halftime as Crystal Palace lost 2-1 at home against new champions Arsenal. His side will play in the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday.
