2nd Arsenal player receives January international call-up | OneFootball

Takehiro Tomiyasu will join Gabriel Magalhaes in playing for his country over the winter break, following a call-up by Japan.

The Japan Football Association website has confirmed that Takehiro Tomiyasu has been called up for senior international duty over the Premier League winter break.

Japan are set to play China on Thursday, 27th January at 10:00 GMT, and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, 1st February at 10:10 GMT.

Both matches are World Cup qualifiers, as Japan push to qualify for this year’s tournament.

There are two automatic qualification spots in their group, plus one play-off spot, and Japan currently sit in second – just one point ahead of Australia and four points behind Saudi Arabia in the top spot.

So these are crucial games, and it’s not surprise Japan are calling Tomiyasu up despite his recent problems with injury.

The Brazilian national team Twitter account (CBF Futebol) previously confirmed that Gabriel Magalhaes is in their squad for the upcoming internationals at the end of the month.

Brazil face Ecuador on January 27th and Paraguay on February 2nd in World Cup qualifiers, though their record in the first 13 games of qualification has already guaranteed them a spot in this year’s tournament.

As these internationals coincide with the Premier League’s winter break, Arsenal don’t have any fixtures for Gabriel and Tomiyasu to miss.

On the other hand, they will lose out on the opportunity to have a few days off. At least Arsenal’s early FA Cup exit means they’ll both have a week between their second international and Arsenal’s first match back on February 10th.