SAAS-FEE, Switzerland (Kyodo) Marcus Tulio Tanaka has vowed to take the heat off national team coach Takeshi Okada and told Japan it is time to go to war.
The Brazilian-born central defender looks set to make his comeback and start against England in Japan's penultimate World Cup warmup in Austria on Sunday after missing the last two matches against Serbia and South Korea because of suspension and injury.
Tulio appears to have recovered from a right hamstring strain that kept him out of Monday's 2-0 defeat to the South Koreans in Saitama and took full part in Thursday's morning training session in cold, wet and windy conditions at the team's camp in the Swiss Alps.