The Japan Football Association said Thursday it plans to ask the clubs of eight European-based national team players for their release for next month's friendlies against Paraguay and Guatemala.
The JFA hopes to be given permission to call up CSKA Moscow's Keisuke Honda and fellow midfielders Daisuke Matsui (Grenoble), Makoto Hasebe (VfL Wolfsburg), Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund), defenders Atsuto Uchida (Schalke 04) and Yuto Nagatomo (A.C. Cesena), striker Takayuki Morimoto (Catania) and goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima (Lierse SK) for the matches in Yokohama on Sept. 4 and Osaka on Sept. 7.
The meeting with Paraguay will be Japan's first match since the same team knocked them out of the World Cup finals on penalties in the second round in South Africa in June.