TOKYO (Reuters) - New Japan head coach Akira Nishino has named a 27-man squad filled with trusted stalwarts for this month's World Cup warm-up against Ghana on Friday. Nishino was keen to stress that many of his players were not expected to reach their peak until they open their World Cup Group H campaign against Colombia in Saransk. "I have predicted and chosen the players who would be in the best condition for the start of the World Cup on June 19," Nishino said at a news conference in Tokyo. "In this situation, we have to look after the team and the players as well as use my imagination about how the team is going to look then (at the World Cup)." "Their play is, as everybody knows, truly indispensable to our team," Nishino said of the two creative midfielders.

Source: The Star May 18, 2018 06:41 UTC