John Hartson has insisted it is "crazy" that Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate have not been included in the Japanese squad for their upcoming fixtures.
The former Celtic striker questioned the head coach Hajime Moriyasu after he excluded the Parkhead pair from Japan's 26-man squad for home friendlies against Colombia and Uruguay later this month.
Daizen Maeda, who starred for the Japanese in the Qatar World Cup last year, has retained his place in the squad. Moriyasu said the pair were omitted from the squad due to the quality of the league Kyogo and Hatate were playing in.
However, he did give them a slice of good news when he told reporters: "As I think we all agree, (Hatate and Furuhashi) would absolutely be able to contribute to the team, but this time I wanted to try out some different players and that's why they weren't selected.