Japan defender Hiroki Ito will not return before the New Year due to an unspecified muscle injury, his German Bundesliga club Stuttgart said Monday.
The 24-year-old was hurt while playing the full 90 minutes of Stuttgart's 2-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday and will return to Japan to receive treatment, the club said.
Ito has played in all 12 league games for Stuttgart this term, starting in all but one of them while providing two assists as the club sit third in the table on 27 points, seven behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
It is concerning news for Japan, who will begin their Asian Cup campaign against Vietnam on Jan. 14 before taking on Iraq and Indonesia in Group D in Qatar.
