Japan captain Wataru Endo has been ruled out of the World Cup with injury, as the Liverpool midfielder announced his international retirement.
Endo announced his retirement on Thursday, three days before his team’s opener against the Netherlands.
The 33-year-old midfielder pulled out of the tournament after failing to recover from a foot injury, and was replaced in Japan’s squad by Borussia Monchengladbach’s Shuto Machino.
He said on social media that he was “frustrated” at not being able to play but backed his team to impress in Group F, where they face the Dutch, Tunisia, and Sweden.
Endo wrote on X: “The current team is truly a wonderful team.
“I believe they will overcome any adversity and show us sights we’ve never seen before.
“With this campaign, I will be retiring from the national team.
“So from here on, I’ll be cheering for the Japan national team as one of the fans.
“The moment when the Japan national team wins the World Cup will surely come someday.
“Let’s believe in that and cheer them on together. And let’s unite Japan’s strength as one so that moment comes in this tournament—everyone, let’s take on the North and Central America World Cup together!!”
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Endo suffered a season-ending foot injury playing for Liverpool against Sunderland in February but returned for Japan in a 1-0 friendly win over Iceland in Tokyo on May 31.
He came off at half-time and continued to feel discomfort at the team’s pre-World Cup camp in Mexico, where he was not involved in any full training sessions.
He took part in training when Japan moved to their World Cup base in Nashville on Monday but was not able to get up to speed in time for the tournament.
Endo added: “Since my injury, I’ve done everything I possibly could up to this point, so I have no regrets whatsoever.
“Of course, there’s frustration at not being able to participate in this World Cup, but more than that, I’m proud of how we’ve grown together since the Qatar World Cup—me as captain, leading this team and turning our goal of “winning the World Cup” into something we can say as a matter of course.”
Endo made his Japan debut in 2015 and retires with 73 caps, having scored four goals for his country.
He was a member of Japan’s squads for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and played in their stunning wins over Germany and Spain in Qatar.
Defender Ko Itakura will take over as Japan’s captain at the World Cup.
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