Japan captain Endo out of World Cup due to injury, calls time on international career

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/endo-wataru/r7gln7MG/"]Endo[/a], who endured an injury-hit ‌season with Liverpool, has been replaced by Borussia Monchengladbach striker [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/machino-shuto/lMBnrtYr/"]Shuto ‌Machino[/a], the Japan Football Association ⁠said ‌in a statement.[/p][p][b]"Since my injury, I've done ​everything I possibly could up to this point, ​so I have no regrets whatsoever," [/b]Endo said in a social ⁠media post.[/p][embed guid="2286a31c-4314-4217-8942-0cd2792c2e25" url="https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/2065130539451888067" social-type="twitter" /][p]The ​33-year-old said he was frustrated at not being able to participate in the showpiece event but ‌took pride in the team's growth since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.[/p][p][b]"With this campaign, I will be retiring from the national team. So from here on, I'll be cheering for the Japan national team as ‌one of the fans,"[/b] he ​said.[/p][image alt="Endo's recent seasons in numbers" id="9685fccc-c0f7-4eda-8f2b-7212da7b7caa" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="27ebe6a6-85f0-40a7-83b0-d1b2a41d74df" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/japan/ULXPdOUj/"]Japan[/a] are in Group F and ‌kick off their eighth appearance at the World Cup finals [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/japan-ULXPdOUj/netherlands-WYintcWb/?mid=4SV9xFBO"]against the Netherlands in Dallas on June 14th[/a] before ⁠taking on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tunisia/QqZVYk95/"]⁠Tunisia[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sweden/OQyqbHWB/"]Sweden[/a].[/p]