FRANCE 98 – General Media News Template

Japan’s star playmaker Hidetoshi Nakata, who is suffering from dermatitis, may miss a friendly international on Sunday against fellow World Cup qualifiers Paraguay.

The 21-year-old Bellmare Hiratsuka midfielder has missed the national team’s training which started Monday ahead of the Kirin Cup tournament which also pits Japan against the Czech Republic on May 24. Nakata, who dazzled with sharp passing and shooting in Asia’s qualifying tournament, rang national coach Takeshi Okada on Monday to say he had an allergic rash over his face and a slight fever, press reports said Tuesday.

“He may not be able to play the first match,”   Okada told reporters. “I am not building up a team which will be collapsed by the absence of a single player,”  he added. “But Nakata is a player of such high calibre that his absence will affect us greatly,”   Okada added.

Okada had hoped to use the warm-up against Paraguay to maop in mapping out strategy against other South American nation, two-time champions Argentina.

He said earlier Japan would look for counterattacks when they play Argentina in their Group-H opener in Toulouse on June 14.