British-based trio Hidetoshi Nakata of Bolton, West Brom's Junichi Inamoto and Shunsuke Nakamura of Celtic were all included in Japan's World Cup squad.
Japan coach Zico has gambled on the fitness of Kashima Antlers' Atsushi Yanagisawa who is still recovering after breaking his ankle earlier this year.
The selection of striker Seiichiro Maki was the only surprise, the JEF United Chiba man finding his way into the squad while there was no place for Real Mallorca forward Yoshito Okubo or Sanfrecce Hiroshima's Hisato Sato.
Japan squad for 2006 World Cup: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata), Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus Eight), Yoichi Doi (FC Tokyo); Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (Gamba Osaka), Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F Marinos), Makoto Tanaka (Jubilo Iwata), Keisuke Tsuboi (Urawa Reds), Alessandro Santos (Urawa Reds), Akira Kaji (Gamba Osaka), Yuichi Komano (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Koji Nakata (Basel); Hidetoshi Nakata (Bolton Wanderers), Junichi Inamoto (West Bromwich Albion), Shinji Ono (Urawa Reds), Takashi Fukunishi (Jubilo Iwata), Mitsuo Ogasawara (Kashima Antlers), Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka); Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus Eight), Atsushi Yanagisawa (Kashima Antlers), Naohiro Takahara (Hamburger SV), Masashi Oguro (Grenoble), Seiichiro Maki (JEF United Chiba).
