2nd Bundesliga - No Asian Cup: 1. FC Nuremberg can plan with Okunuki
1. FC Nürnberg can plan with Kanji Okunuki in the preparation for the second half of the season. The 24-year-old made his international debut for Japan in the 5-0 friendly win over Thailand on New Year's Day. Okunuki was even part of the starting line-up at the national stadium in Tokyo, but was substituted at the break. Following the match, national soccer coach Hajime Moriyasu did not call up the "Club" attacker to Japan's squad for the Asian Cup starting on January 12.
According to the club, Okunuki will return to Nuremberg and immediately begin preparations for the rest of the season with FCN. The attacking player is expected to start training on Wednesday. Coach Cristian Fiél has scheduled the FCN professionals' first training session of the new year for this Tuesday (13:00).
The team will be attending a training camp in Marbella from January 7 to 14. Two test matches against FC Brugge and Karlsruher SC are also planned in Spain. On January 20, the tenth-placed team will kick off the second half of the season with a home match against Hansa Rostock.
Nuremberg's sporting director Dieter Hecking had announced a streamlining of the squad for the winter transfer period. Center forward Christoph Daferner (25) is therefore about to be loaned out to league rivals Fortuna Düsseldorf. According to the "Bild" newspaper, Daferner has already traveled to the Rhineland for a medical check. The former Dynamo Dresden attacker only made four appearances under Fiél in the first half of the second division season, most recently in the defeat to FC St. Pauli at the beginning of October.
Second division match schedule Second division table FCN squad FCN press release
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- Despite his impressive performance for Japan in a friendly against Thailand in Tokyo on New Year's Day, Kanji Okunuki was not selected for Japan's squad for the upcoming Asia Cup.
- Following their training camp in Marbella from January 7 to 14, 1. FC Nuremberg will kick off the second half of the 2. Bundesliga season with a home match against Hansa Rostock on January 20.
- Okunuki's international debut against Thailand was not enough to secure his place in Japan's squad for the Asian Cup, which begins on January 12, in Asia.
- In the first half of the 2. Bundesliga season, center forward Christoph Daferner made only four appearances for 1. FC Nuremberg, most recently in the defeat to FC St. Pauli at the beginning of October.
- After being dropped from the Japan squad for the Asian Cup, Okunuki will return to Nuremberg to join his teammates for training ahead of the second half of the season.
- Daferner, who only played under coach Cristian Fiél in the first half of the season, is expected to be loaned out to league rivals Fortuna Düsseldorf for the rest of the season.
- Okunuki's international debut for Japan in a friendly against Thailand took place in Tokyo, a city known for its vibrant soccer culture and Bavarian-influenced cuisine.
Source: www.stern.de
