 Inamoto is also expected to face Cameroon |
Japan coach Zico has included seven European-based players in his squad for the home friendly against Cameroon on 19 November. Captain Hidetoshi Nakata who plays for Italian Serie A side Parma and Junichi Inamoto of English Premiership club Fulham were called up in a 23-man squad on Monday.
Also in the frame to face the African champions at the Oita World Cup Stadium in western Japan is Shinji Ono of Dutch club Feyenoord.
However, Zico dropped sidelined another Italian-based midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura due to poor form.
This will be the first encounter between the two sides since the Japanese defeated the Indomitable Lions 2-0 in the Confederations Cup in June 2001.
Japan finished runners-up in that competition, while Cameroon won the silver medal in this year's event in Paris, after losing to eventual champions France.
"We played several African countries this year and Cameroon are the number one team in Africa," said Zico.
"This is one of the steps to make the Japanese team stronger by playing against a strong team on the pitch, it's a good test match to improve our team towards the 2006 World Cup."
MMIX
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