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The story
Defender Kou Itakura, who has returned to Borussia Mönchengladbach, has told the club he wants to withdraw from next January’s Asian Cup and focus entirely on his club career, according to a German newspaper. Some see the absence of Itakura — who captained Japan at the World Cup after injured skipper Endo went down — as a real blow to Moriyasu’s squad, but on 5ch opinion is split, with comments like “the Asian Cup isn’t worth that much anyway” and “Taniguchi can be captain instead.”
Defender Kou Itakura (29), who has returned to Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach, has told the club he wishes to withdraw from next January’s Asian Cup, where Japan’s national team will compete, German media reported on the 20th. He reportedly informed the club’s management that he wants to stay with the team.
If Japan reaches the final of the tournament, Mönchengladbach could be without him for up to six matches. That’s convenient for the club, but a concern for the Japan national team — in what will be manager Hajime Moriyasu’s final tournament in charge — since it would lose the player who captained the side at the World Cup in North/Central America after Endo’s injury.
Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
We already know what he can do.
Just call up Bryan Kokubo for GK.
He's in danger of losing his spot at his 'day job' (his club).
Moriyasu Japan has zero sense when it comes to picking the No.10 and the captain.
Seriously, just give the No.10 and captaincy to someone actually popular for once.
Adidas.
National team fans are probably gonna hate him for it.
Well, good luck at the club — feels like he could be surplus to requirements there soon too.
He's just not a guy you can rely on when it actually matters.
Thinking about it normally, not really.
Honestly not sure why he's even on the national team talent-wise.
Just strip him of the captaincy.
Same reason he left Urawa Reds too — "didn't get along with the manager."
time to focus on life at home.
Bundesliga winter break: Dec 20, 2026 – Jan 8
So the whole tournament falls smack in the middle of the regular season.
I thought the Bundesliga took a long break in January, but it turns out it starts back up pretty much right after New Year's.
withdrawing five months before the tournament when the captain isn't even injured — that's unheard of.
but the reality is the best they've managed is a round-of-32 exit, with zero titles to show for it.
Fans have just developed this weird inflated pride too — their whole self-esteem is probably propped up by the FIFA ranking and "quality of play" they used to mock, huh? lol
Can't really argue with that priority list.
Background and Key Points
Kou Itakura’s move touches Japan’s oldest continental competition: the AFC Asian Cup, contested since 1956, which Japan has won a record four times (1992, 2000, 2004, 2011) but hasn’t lifted since. The 2027 edition runs January 11–February 5, squarely inside a normal Bundesliga season — Gladbach’s winter break (Dec 20–Jan 8) ends before the tournament even starts, meaning Itakura would miss up to six league matches for his club if Japan went all the way. Itakura took over the captaincy mid-tournament at the 2026 World Cup after Wataru Endo’s injury, so his withdrawal isn’t just losing a starting center-back — it’s losing the player who literally wore the armband on the sport’s biggest stage, under Hajime Moriyasu in what is reportedly the manager’s last tournament in charge.
The thread’s real fault line isn’t whether Itakura is good enough — posters largely agree he isn’t irreplaceable — but whether prioritizing a club season over the Asian Cup is a legitimate, even sensible, choice (comparisons to Hideki Matsui skipping Japan duty for MLB, “the Asian Cup isn’t worth that much”) versus a captain abandoning a national obligation on short notice (“unheard of,” “selfish”).
What the thread never engages with: Japan’s Asian Cup record is actually thin by their own continental standards — no title since 2011, and their best World Cup finish remains the round of 16, so the reflexive dismissal of the tournament’s importance (post 72) cuts against fans’ broader claims about Japan’s rising global stature.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread ‘[Soccer] Itakura, back at Borussia Mönchengladbach, set to withdraw from January’s Asian Cup — signals intent to focus on club’.
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