Keisuke Honda and Makoto Hasebe have retired from international football following Japan’s World Cup exit.
The Blue Samurai led 2-0 in their Round of 16 fixture with Belgium before the Europeans launched a dramatic comeback to win 3-2 with a late Nacer Chadli goal.
Honda did not start a game in Russia, but came off the bench as a second half substitute in Rostov, and believes the future is bright for Japan.
Today we showed how we can proceed as Japanese football, said the 32-year-old, who scored 37 goals in 98 caps.
Thank you my World Cup and my dream. You raised me up until today.
— KeisukeHonda(本田圭佑) (@kskgroup2017)
I am happy, because we have a lot of good young players, and now it is their turn to write the history of Japanese football.
This is the last World Cup for me. That s the reality. To be perfectly honest, I wanted to take everyone to the next round, but I couldn t get the job done. I did everything I could. I did the best I could.
Japan captain Hasebe also called time on his international career after 114 appearances and the Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder praised the team-mates who supported him during his career.
I would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues who fought together for about 12-and-a-half years since 2006, and to all the Japanese people who supported me so much, he said.
The time I walked with you is an important treasure for me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Last but not least, I am also a supporter of the national team. Let s dream about the Japanese national team together.
Japan will now look ahead to the 2019 Asian Cup, which is being held in the UAE.
