Shimizu S-Pulse on Monday announced a severe injury to midfielder Yosuke Kawai that will see the player miss half a year of action.

The 27-year-old tore his left Achilles tendon during the team’s 2017 MEIJI YASUDA J1 League opener against Vissel Kobe.

S-Pulse also announced that midfielder Ryo Takeuchi will sit out five weeks after severely bruising his right thigh.