Japan leaves out Nakamura

Shunsuke Nakamura will not play for Japan in its final World Cup qualifier against Australia in Melbourne next Wednesday after coach Takeshi Okada decided to leave the Celtic star and three other players out of his travelling party.

Shunsuke Nakamura will not play for Japan in its final World Cup qualifier against Australia in Melbourne next Wednesday after coach Takeshi Okada decided to leave the Celtic star and three other players out of his travelling party.

While the match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground will decide top spot in Group A of the Asian World Cup qualifiers, there is little at stake with both teams having already booked their places in South Africa.

As a result, Okada has decided to rest Nakamura, injured Gamba Osaka midfielder Yasuhito Endo, Wolfsburg forward Yoshito Okubo and midfielder Keisuke Honda of Dutch side VVV Venlo.

Wolfsburg midfielder Makoto Hasebe will also miss the match as he completes a two-match ban after his red card for elbowing Uzbekistan's Server Djeparov during last weekend's 1-0 win in Tashkent.

Japan squad: Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus), Ryota Tsuzuki (Urawa Red Diamonds), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale); Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F Marinos), Satoshi Yamaguchi (Gamba Osaka), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Urawa), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Tomoaki Makino (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers); Hideo Hashimoto (Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki), Daisuke Matsui (Saint-Etienne), Yuki Abe (Urawa), Naoki Yamada (Urawa); Keiji Tamada (Nagoya), Kisho Yano (Albirex Niigata), Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse), Shinzo Koroki (Kashima).