Gamba Osaka on Monday announced that starting goalkeeper Masaaki Higashiguchi will miss an undisclosed amount of playing time after fracturing his left cheekbone.
The injury was sustained during Gamba’s 3-0 win over FC Tokyo on Saturday night in the third round of the 2017 MEIJI YASUDA J1 League.
With no timetable announced for his return, Higashiguchi is now expected to be omitted from Japan’s squad for their upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against UAE And Thailand.