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The second German league and thus also Schalke 04 Take an extraordinary international break. While there are no international matches within UEFA, the countries of other federations are fighting for a World Cup ticket.

affected in Schalke 04 Including Ko Itakura. The Japanese left the national team immediately after the match against Erzgebirge. But the next disappointment threatens him.

Schalke 04: Itakura suffers from travel stress

For Itakura, international breaks are accompanied by a lot of travel stress. The city of Gelsenkirchen and the Japanese city of Saitama are approximately 9,250 km away. He would have to come back this way twice in a few days.

The center back has been called up by national team coach Hajime Moriyasu for the upcoming matches against China and Australia in the Samurai Blue squad. After all: the two games take place in Saitama. Flights to other places will be canceled this time.

Schalke 04: Do you travel to Japan for free?

However, Itakura faces the next disappointment in his homeland. Although the 24-year-old is always part of the team, he is rarely used. In November, he flew nearly 22,000 kilometers around the world for zero minutes of run.

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In defense, he prefers Sampdoria’s Maya Yoshida and Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu. Yuta Nakayama also enjoyed a higher status than Itakura when he joined as a substitute. However, given Tomiyasu’s injury, he could at least appear for a while.

Will Itakura, led by Schalke 04, qualify for the World Cup?

Things are looking good for Japan in the World Cup qualifiers. With twelve points, you are in second place, which means direct qualification. A direct comparison with Australia is particularly important. They are currently one point behind Japan in third place.

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The third place in the group should go to the playoffs. Japan won the first leg of Australia 2-1 – without Itakura.