Japan players insist that their team can have a profound absence of injured forward Shinji Kagawa of their showdown in Asia Cup final with Australia on Saturday.
21-year-old Borussia Dortmund star Doha returned to Germany on Thursday after breaking a bone in his foot in the penalty shoot-out victory of Japan in South Korea in the semifinals.
After scoring two goals and set up the winning goal in the 3-2 quarter-final to win the Qatar Kawgawa was a key part of the Japanese invasion, but the center of the new Maya Yoshida said that the party could have survive without him.
"We have our style of play and not have to change because you do not have," Yoshida said the tournament site.
"Our reserve players have trained well and have a good reason why I think we can cover Kagawa."
Goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima, who saved two penalties for the 3-0 spot-kick success against South Korea, said that a team with deep, it was important that all the team's hopes of winning a major title.
"Him? He knows a very important player for the team, but the Asian Cup, it is important not only to play 11 players, but there are other players ready," he said.
"We know that the final we have to fight with all our players, so we're just going to focus on getting the job done with the players we have available now."
