Takayuki Morimoto won his first senior international callup Friday as the 21-year-old Catania striker was named to Japan's squad for two upcoming friendlies in the Netherlands.
Espanyol playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura and free-scoring VVV Venlo midfielder Keisuke Honda were also named to the 22-man squad that will take on the Dutch national team in Enschede on Sept. 5 and Ghana four days later in Utrecht as part of Japan's preparations for next year's World Cup in South Africa.
"The objective is to strengthen the team I have at the moment. It's not about players being on trial," said Japan coach Takeshi Okada. "This is our first active step towards next year's finals."
"We are looking forward to playing strong opposition away from home. We are not in the slightest thinking about sitting back and defending just because the Netherlands are a good side. We want to hit them with our brand of soccer."
Rennes midfielder Junichi Inamoto, who was last with the national squad for a World Cup qualifier against Australia in February, and Kashima Antlers defender Daiki Iwamasa return to the fold but Grenoble midfielder Daisuke Matsui and Nagoya Grampus goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki both miss out through injury.
The squad:
Goalkeepers: Ryota Tsuzuki (Urawa Reds), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale)
Defenders: Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F Marinos), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Urawa Reds), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata), Yuki Abe (Urawa Reds), Daiki Iwamasa (Kashima Antlers), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (FC Tokyo)
Midfielders: Shunsuke Nakamura (Espanyol), Hideo Hashimoto (Gamba Osaka), Junichi Inamoto (Rennes), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Makoto Hasebe (VfL Wolfsburg), Keisuke Honda (VVV Venlo)
Forwards: Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus), Yoshito Okubo (Vissel Kobe), Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse), Shinzo Koroki (Kashima Antlers), Takayuki Morimoto (Catania)