The former Japan legend, who won 152 caps for his country, selects his best-ever XI and says: ‘This team will not play any long balls’
I have decided to base my team on players who have already retired from international football as it would be tough for me to choose from those still playing. Ideally, I would have Shusaku Nishikawa in goal as I prefer passing football and his distribution – both long and short – is excellent, but that would already be breaking my own rule so I will pick Seigo Narazaki. He was always a stable performer who never really had peaks and troughs. He was just consistently solid and ready.
I want to get as many midfielders in as possible, so I am going for three at the back. The first choice is Tulio. He was not the quickest but he was tall, strong in the challenge, and a really composed passer of the ball. He was certainly quite the shouter, but his passion and leadership created a positive atmosphere for the rest of the team.
Written by Yasuhito Endo
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/03/yasuhito-endo-picks-his-all-time-japan-xi under the title “Yasuhito Endo picks his all-time Japan XI”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
