Japan's scheduled opponent for next month's home friendly has changed for a second time and the Asian champion will now take on Angola, the Japan Football Association said Thursday.
Japan was originally set to face Ivory Coast at Tokyo's National Stadium on Nov. 16 but that plan was dropped and Togo was named as the replacement after Ivory Coast officials told the JFA the squad would be without Chelsea star Didier Drogba and other key players.
Togo, which like Ivory Coast has qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time, pledged to send a full-strength side to Tokyo but JFA president Saburo Kawabuchi said Togo officials failed to turn up to sign the contract.
Angola will also be making its World Cup debut next year in Germany.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.