Outright Odds: 300/1
Group F Winners: sixteen/1
Japan certainly are a difficult team to forecast. Last 12 months they conquer European champions Greece and attained a credible attract with Brazil in previous several years Confederations Cup but their qualifying marketing campaign was less than convincing.
They misplaced just the moment in twelve qualifying matches, away at Iran, and topped the group All round, However they only managed to attain in excess of two aims from a severely depleted Indian facet and necessary last minute wins versus Oman and Korea DPR.
Such feebleness in qualification noticed the general public call for manager Zicos head but The actual fact they skilled to the Match will conserve the Brazilian football legends occupation In the meanwhile. Japan reached the 2nd spherical four many years in the past but they are going to do properly to succeed in that stage this time around.
The 2002 marketing campaign observed Japan defeat a dismal Russia just before narrowly dropping out to Turkey in the 2nd round. Legend has it that then-mentor Phillipe Troussier chose striker Akinori Nishizawa, who had not played during the Event, forward of normal strikers Takayuki Suzuki and Atushi Yanagisawa as it was his birthday. Definitely Zico wouldnt make such a mistake?
A UK-centered midfield trio of Hidetoshi Nakata (Bolton Wanderers), Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Junichi Inamoto (West Bromwich Albion) and if match, Shinji Ono of Feyenoord gives Japan their finest prospect of results its the rest of the staff which lacks genuine Global class.
The normal strike pairing of Naohiro Takahara and Yanagisawa usually do not get frequent club football with Hamburg and Messina even though the remainder of the side is designed up of citizens with the vastly improving upon J-League. Only 4 from the 23 players in last many years Confederations Cup squad have been based mostly abroad.
The centre half-pairing of Gamba Osakas Tsuneyasu Miyamoto and Yokohamas Yuji 토토사이트 Nakazawa have been stable all through a qualification campaign which conceded just 5 ambitions but Brazil, Croatia and Australia will offer a Considerably sterner exam. Portsmouth flop Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, made the scapegoat just after Pompey dropped four-one at your house to Leyton Orient on his debut, has highlighted about 80 times in intention for his place.
Japan might be victims of their unique current success and expectation will likely be terrific at this several years finals. Though There exists a good amount of talent in midfield, the staff as a whole is probably not around emulating their group topping exploits of 4 yrs back and they are not likely to determine inside the knockout levels.
Advised Bet
An unconvincing qualification marketing campaign and a lack of ambitions from your two strikers means Japan can't be backed to qualify in the group. Actually, they could be propping up The remainder by the point the three initially round matches are concluded and backing in opposition to them could possibly be an even better financial investment than supporting them.
Croatia to beat Japan @ four/5