Japan and Kashima Antlers striker Atsushi Yanagisawa sustained a right foot injury in a J. League match Saturday and is expected to miss the upcoming friendly at home against Ecuador.
Kashima club doctor Jun Seki said the injury is a suspected broken bone that will likely leave Yanagisawa out of the Japan squad for the friendly in Oita next Thursday. He will receive examinations on Sunday.
Yanagisawa limped off the field in the 71st minute of Kashima's 1-0 away win over JEF United Chiba on Saturday night.
The 28-year-old picked up the injury just a month after returning to Kashima on loan until the end of June from Messina, for whom he had not scored a single league goal since joining the Italian first-division club in the summer of 2004.
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