DF Hiroki Ito (23), who belongs to VfB Stuttgart, is injured in the match against Bundesliga Section 9 Union Berlin on the 9th of this month, while he is expected to be a member of the Japanese national team for the FIFA World Cup Qatar tournament. He is worried about qualifying for the Qatar World Cup.
Hiroki Ito moved from Jubilo Iwata to VfB Stuttgart in June last year. In his first year abroad, he became a regular in the back three, and this season he has played the full game in all official games. He also made his debut for the Japanese national team in the Kirin Challenge Cup match against Paraguay on June 2nd of this year. After successfully appealing to manager Hajime Moriyasu, he also played in two Kirin Challenge Cup matches. He put in a good performance and was close to being in the Qatar World Cup squad.
Meanwhile, the player made a full appearance in the Bundesliga Section 8 against Wolfsburg on the 1st of this month, but it turned out that he had muscle trouble after the match. Last week, he did not participate in the overall training and was focused on adjusting the individual menu, but he was in the starting line-up against Union Berlin.
However, according to the report of the German media “Ligainsider”, Hiroki Ito injured his right calf when competing with Norwegian representative DF Julian Rielson (24). He was forced to be substituted after 76 minutes. Also, the extent of his injury has not been clarified, and depending on the situation, it seems that it may affect his participation in the Japanese national team at the Qatar World Cup.
VfB Stuttgart had 3 draws and 5 losses at the end of the previous section, placing them in 16th place out of 18 clubs. German magazine “Kicker” reported that manager Pellegrino Matarazzo could be dismissed depending on the results of the next two games. Hiroki Ito, who was worried about his condition, was forced to participate, but he lost 0-1 to Union Berlin.