National team manager Takeshi Okada handed reigning J. League player of the year Mitsuo Ogasawara a World Cup lifeline on Wednesday with a first callup since June 2006.
Ogasawara won the last of his 53 caps against Brazil in Japan's last match at the 2006 World Cup, but the Kashima Antlers captain's chances of appearing in this year's edition looked slim after being consistently overlooked by Okada and his predecessor Ivica Osim.
But Okada laid down the gauntlet to the 30-year-old as he named an entirely home-based squad for next month's friendly against Venezuela and East Asian Football Championship against South Korea, China and Hong Kong, challenging Ogasawara to force his way onto the plane to South Africa.