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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;TOKYO (Reuters) -- Japan will play in this year's Copa America in Argentina having reversed a decision to pull out of the tournament after the country's northeastern coast was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami last month.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"The JFA decided to participate in the Copa America today,\" Japan Football Association (JFA) general secretary Kozo Tashima was quoted as saying by the Kyodo news agency on Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"We are in the process of notifying CONMEBOL (South American football confederation) as we speak.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Japan, who played as guests at the 1999 Copa America in Paraguay, were drawn with hosts Argentina, Bolivia and Colombia.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The JFA decision to take up the guest spot in the July 1-24 event will not please European clubs who are reluctant to lose their Japanese players. Bundesliga side Schalke 04 have already objected to releasing defender Atsuto Uchida.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"We need to be careful how we reply if Uchida is called up in July,\" Schalke sporting director Horst Heldt said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"We're always willing to cooperate with the JFA whether it's during the season or in the off-season.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"But we have a professional obligation to get the team in shape for an important and long season at that time of the year. It will be difficult for us to let him go.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Kyodo report said J-League authorities had offered conditional support to the JFA decision, saying coach Alberto Zaccheroni could pick only one player from each club.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tashima said he did not expect all of Japan's players to be available but the squad must be strong enough to protect the reputation of the country and the tournament.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"We need a team that won't embarrass us or damage the prestige of the Copa America,\" Tashima said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"As (JFA President Junji) Ogura said, likely half the team would have to be from Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"We don't expect to get all the players we want, and some we will need to rest. But we will try to pick as many of the players the manager needs.\"&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/soccer/2011/04/14/japan-copa>