National coach delivers bad news about Sporting star: not at his best | OneFootball

The national coach of Japan explained the absence of Hidemasa Morita from the latest call-up of the Japanese team. The Sporting midfielder is usually a regular presence in his country's team camps, a situation that, this time, did not occur - just like what happened with Ousmane Diomande.

Hajime Moriyasu, Japan's coach, spoke to journalists at a press conference and specifically addressed the absence of Hidemasa Morita, a Sporting player, who this year has already suffered from some physical issues, just like last season.

"Morita is an excellent player, he was a key player [for Japan] in the qualifiers [for the 2026 World Cup] and helped the team win," the Japanese coach began by explaining, making sure to leave several compliments for the Sporting midfielder.

Immediately after, he provided the justification for not selecting the Sporting player: "I confirmed that he returned to the team and I am assessing his physical condition. But I decided that he is not yet in his best shape, so I did not call him up".

Despite having faced some difficulties at the start of the season, Hidemasa Morita will be fully fit to help the Sporting team, as he did in the last three matches of the lions, in which he always played (in the last two, as a used substitute). In any case, the absence from Japan's call-up allows the green and white midfielder to avoid the long journeys necessary to join his national team's camp, staying at Alvalade, working under Rui Borges' orders.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.