Wataru Endo is returning to Liverpool earlier than expected during the international break, but thankfully it isn’t anything injury-related.
The 31-year-old was due to play two fixtures for Japan this week, a 2026 World Cup qualifying double header against North Korea, although the second of those matches has been postponed in a bizarre turn of events.
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A statement from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) read that the fixture, which the Koreans were due to host next Tuesday, ‘will not take place as scheduled due to unforeseen circumstances’.
That decision, which was ‘taken in consultation with FIFA and relevant stakeholders’, ‘comes after the AFC was informed on March 20 by the DPR Korea Football Association of the need to move the match to a neutral venue due to unavoidable circumstances’.
The ambiguous wording behind
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