Wataru Endo, captain and member of the Japan national team for the FIFA World Cup (W杯) North America tournament, has announced his departure from the team due to injury, drawing attention from Chinese football fans.

The Japan Football Association announced on the 12th that Endo would leave the team due to injury. It is reported that the condition of his left foot, which underwent surgery in February, has worsened. Endo also announced his retirement from the Japan national team on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

Masakuni Yamamoto, Technical Committee Chairman of the Japan Football Association, explained, "Today, player Wataru Endo has left the team. The coach made the final decision after receiving reports from the medical staff. He himself must be the most frustrated." Furthermore, Shuto Machino was called up as an additional member in place of Endo.

In response to this report, Chinese football fans made comments such as: "Stop it... (tears)," "Another key player injured?," "It's over," "It's hopeless now. Everyone is out with injuries," "They'll probably suffer a crushing defeat to the Netherlands in the first match," "At this point, it would be an achievement just to get through the group stage," and "Now they have an excuse if they can't get past the group stage. Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma, Wataru Endo (all out due to injury)."

Also, a certain blogger posted regarding the additional call-up of forward Machino: "Manager Hajime Moriyasu, are you okay? Hidemasa Morita, Hidemasa Morita, Hidemasa Morita." Other users also flooded with comments such as: "Isn't Shuto Machino a defensive midfielder?," "Why isn't Morita called up?," "Even with this, you won't call up Morita?," "Use Morita, seriously," "No matter what happens, they won't call up Morita," and "Even if not Morita, there are many other defensive midfielders like Joel Chima Fujita and Kota Sano."

Ever since the 26-member Japan national team squad was announced, Chinese football fans had expressed surprise and dissatisfaction that Morita, who had been performing well in Europe, was not selected. The World Cup has already begun, and Japan will face the Netherlands in their first match on the 15th. (Translation and editing by Kitada)