Yuji Nakazawa out with injury

Takeshi Okada's Blue Samurai's were dealt a tough blow as Yokohama F-Marinos Yuji Nakazawa has been forced to pull-out of the lineup with a muscle strain he suffered in a J-League match against Kyoto Purple Sanga. This situation is further complicated as it is questionable that Celtic's Shunsuke Nakamura will be recovered in time for the Qatar match.

Yasuhito Endō and Yuji Nakazawa up for AFC Player of the Year

The AFC has released the revised listing of AFC Player of the Year which includes Blue Samurai Yasuhito Endō 遠藤 保仁 of Gamba Osaka and Yuji Nakazawa 中澤 佑二 of Yokohama F Marinos. The AFC will announce the winner November 25th in Shanghai at the Awards Gala.


The list is as follows:

1. Ahmad Ajab (Kuwait and Al Qadsia – Kuwait )
2. Ali Al Habsi (Oman and Bolton Wanderers – England )
3. Andres Sebastian Soria Quintana ( Qatar and Qatar SC – Qatar )
4. Choe Kum-Chol (DPRK and April 25 - DPRK)
5. Ebrahim Sadeghi ( Iran and Saipa – Iran )
6. Ismael Matar (UAE and Al Wahda – UAE)
7. Jehad Al Hussein (Syria and Kuwait SC – Kuwait)
8. Mark Schwarzer - (Australia and Fulham - England)
9. Nathan Burns (Australia and AEK Athens – Greece)
10. Saad Al Harthi - (Saudi Arabia and Al Nasr - Saudi Arabia)
11. Server Djeparov (Uzbekistan and Kuruvchi/Bunyodkor – Uzbekistan)
12. Travis Dodd - (Australia and Adelaide United - Australia)
13. Yasuhito Endo - (Japan and Gamba Osaka - Japan)
14. Yuji Nakazawa ( Japan and Yokohama F Marinos – Japan)