CHIBA, Japan - Japan attacker Takefusa Kubo will be carrying the mantle of the injured Takumi Minamino at the upcoming World Cup after picking the No. 8 shirt usually worn by his senior Samurai Blue teammate.
"I've told him I want to wear it if the shirt was going to someone else," Real Sociedad playmaker Kubo said Friday during Japan's training camp in Chiba, east of Tokyo, revealing he contacted the Monaco man directly and had his proposal readily accepted.
Minamino ruptured his left knee ligament in December and could not recover in time for the World Cup starting next month, while Kubo made the 26-man squad having returned to action in April following a left hamstring injury that kept him out for nearly three months.
The pair have been regular starters behind a lone striker for Japan in recent years under manager Hajime Moriyasu and Kubo, who turns 25 on Thursday, will look to emulate the 31-year-old former Liverpool man.
"Minamino is someone who can inspire the team both on and off the pitch. I will inherit his cheerful, upbeat character too," Kubo said of Minamino, who will be accompanying the team in North America.
With Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma also ruled out injured, Kubo is expected to become a focal point in Japan's attack as they take on the Netherlands, Tunisia and Sweden in Group F, a role he is more than ready to fulfill.
"I'll try to give my maximum ability whoever I'm lining up with (in attacking midfield)," Kubo said. "I haven't really been stopped from cutting inside by bigger defenders. I'm grateful the bigger they are."
