Latest on Takehiro Tomiyasu after Japan squad absence | OneFootball

Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu was absent from Japan’s opening game at the AFC Asian Cup, but he’s back in training on Monday morning.

Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu was a notable absentee from Japan’s opening-day Asian Cup win over Vietnam, with the 25-year-old not even making the bench for his national side.

But any fears of a new injury for Tomiyasu have been allayed by his presence in training with Japan on Monday morning.

In videos of Japan’s latest session, Tomiyasu can be seen taking part in shooting drills with his teammates, showing no ill effects.

The Asian Cup allows teams to bring 26 players to the tournament, but only 23 can be named in any given matchday squad. As a result, there will always be a few players missing.

As for why Tomiyasu was the player left out on this occasion, it seems the defender is still working on his full recovery from the injury he sustained with Arsenal.

Until the last couple of days, Tomiyasu hadn’t been involved in full training with Japan, instead taking on an individual workload while the main session went on without him.

That changed on Friday, when Tomiyasu joined full training for the first time. He was then also involved in full training on Saturday, and now on Monday as well.

Japan got a real test against Vietnam, but they ended up winning the match 4-2. It was a game they would have expected to win, as tournament favourites.

The side likely feel they can afford to be patient with Tomiyasu during the group stages, saving him for the tougher matches as the tournament progresses.