Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek has promised to field his strongest possible team in next week’s final World Cup qualifier despite confirmation Japan will send a depleted side to Melbourne.

The match, which is a dead rubber with both sides already qualified for South Africa, has been billed as the final party to celebrate Australia booking successive World Cup berths for the first time.

With a capacity crowd expected at the MCG, fans will be disappointed to learn Japan have confirmed they will send a side missing star Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura and four other regulars to Australia.

Gamba Osaka midfielder Yasuhito Endo and Europe-based players Makoto Hasebe, Yoshito Okubo and Keisuke Honda will also stay at home.

While Endo is injured and Hasebe suspended, the Japan Football Association said the other players would be rested for “conditioning”.

Quizzed about a weakened visiting side, Verbeek would not pass judgment, but said it would have no bearing on his selections.

“That’s up to (Japan coach Takeshi) Okada,” Verbeek said of the weakened squad.

“But I’m going there (to Melbourne) and bringing my best players.

“We have 100,000 people who want to see the best available players and they will get to see the best available players.”

Verbeek said the Socceroos were also still determined to finish on top of their qualification group, despite the finishing positions meaning nothing heading into the World Cup.

Australia currently sit on 17 points, two ahead of Japan, and need only a draw to seal first spot in Group A after the Blue Samurai were held 1-1 by Qatar in Yokohama on Wednesday.

“We want to be number one in the group and we’re going to give everything we have to win that game,” Verbeek said.

While Verbeek made seven changes to his team for Wednesday night’s 2-0 win over Bahrain at ANZ Stadium, he is set to welcome back a host of stars in Melbourne.

The Dutchman said players including Tim Cahill and Josh Kennedy should be fit to return from injury after opting not to risk them against Bahrain.

Skipper Lucas Neill will return from suspension while Vince Grella should come back into the starting line-up after coming off the bench in Sydney.

Mark Bresciano and Scott Chipperfield are also available to return but they could be overlooked after Verbeek said he might not risk players who were one yellow card away from suspension.

David Carney, Chris Coyne, Brett Holman and Mile Jedinak are also sitting on yellows, with suspensions carrying through to the first game of the World Cup.

“I think it would be very naive to use players who have a yellow card,” Verbeek said.

The Socceroos’ win over Bahrain on Wednesday night was far from convincing but stand-in captain Mark Schwarzer said it illustrated how much depth Australia had heading into the World Cup.

“Even with the changes that we made, we showed that everybody in this squad is 100 per cent committed,” Schwarzer said.

JAPAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus), Ryota Tsuzuki (Urawa Red Diamonds), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale)

Defenders: Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama Marinos), Satoshi Yamaguchi (Gamba Osaka), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Urawa), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Tomoaki Makino (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers)

Midfielders: Hideo Hashimoto (Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Daisuke Matsui (Saint-Etienne), Yuki Abe (Urawa), Naoki Yamada (Urawa)

Forwards: Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus), Kisho Yano (Albirex Niigata), Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse), Shinzo Koroki (Kashima)

© AAP 2012

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