Celtic midfielder Reo Hatate and Shonan Bellmare forward Shuto Machino were among the 30 players announced Thursday for Japan's World Cup warm-up matches this month against the United States and Ecuador in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Hatate has only one senior-level cap for Japan but the 24-year-old has made a bright start to the season, including two strong Champions League outings against Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk.
The 22-year-old Machino has nine goals this term in the J-League first division and could get minutes up front as manager Hajime Moriyasu is without Vissel Kobe's Yuya Osako due to fitness issues.
Moriyasu originally planned to call up 26 players, the number he will be allowed at the World Cup, which kicks off in Qatar on Nov. 20. However, he has opted to test more players ahead of his final squad announcement.
"I want to make sure our overall strength does not drop in someone's absence, and prepare the team to a level where I can be confident of it functioning heading into the finals," Moriyasu told an online press conference.
In any event, Moriyasu would have had to take more than those he originally intended to call, following a double injury blow this week. Borussia Monchengladbach defender Ko Itakura and Bochum forward Takuma Asano both suffered knee ligament injuries and face a race to be fit in time for Qatar.
Grasshoppers defender Ayumu Seko, 22, could win his first cap in Itakura's absence.
In a squad dominated by European-based players in midfield and attack, Nagoya Grampus winger Yuki Soma earned his place after starring alongside Machino in July's East Asian Football Federation E-1 Championship.
Urawa Reds defender Hiroki Sakai is back in the fold for the first time since February.
Japan will face fellow World Cup qualifiers the United States, on Sept. 23, and Ecuador, on the 27th. The Samurai Blue also have a game in Dubai on Nov. 17 against Canada.
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Full Squad:
Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg), Shuichi Gonda (Shimizu S-Pulse), Daniel Schmidt (Sint-Truiden), Kosei Tani (Shonan Bellmare)
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Maya Yoshida (Schalke), Hiroki Sakai (Urawa Reds), Shogo Taniguchi, Miki Yamane (both Kawasaki Frontale), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart), Ayumu Seko (Grasshoppers)
Midfielders/Forwards: Genki Haraguchi (Union Berlin), Gaku Shibasaki (Leganes), Wataru Endo (Stuttgart), Junya Ito (Stade Reims), Takumi Minamino (Monaco), Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate (all Celtic), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting Lisbon), Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt), Yuki Soma (Nagoya Grampus), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Ayase Ueda (Cercle Brugge), Ao Tanaka (Dusseldorf), Shuto Machino (Shonan Bellmare), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad)
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