Outright Odds: 300/1
Group F Winners: 16/1
Japan are a tough group to forecast. Final 12 months they beat European champions Greece and earned a reputable draw with Brazil in last years Confederations Cup but their qualifying marketing campaign was less than convincing.
They missing just the moment in 12 qualifying matches, absent at Iran, and topped the group All round, Nonetheless they only managed to attain in excess of two targets versus a severely depleted Indian aspect and wanted last second wins versus Oman and Korea DPR.
This kind of feebleness in qualification saw the general public call for manager Zicos head but the fact they qualified with the Event will conserve the Brazilian football legends position for the time being. Japan reached the 2nd round four yrs ago but they're going to do well to achieve that phase 토토사이트 this time all around.
The 2002 campaign saw Japan defeat a dismal Russia just before narrowly getting rid of out to Turkey in the 2nd round. Legend has it that then-coach Phillipe Troussier chose striker Akinori Nishizawa, who had not performed from the Event, forward of regular strikers Takayuki Suzuki and Atushi Yanagisawa mainly because it was his birthday. Definitely Zico wouldnt make this kind of error?
A British isles-dependent midfield trio of Hidetoshi Nakata (Bolton Wanderers), Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Junichi Inamoto (West Bromwich Albion) and if fit, Shinji Ono of Feyenoord presents Japan their finest probability of good results its the remainder of the workforce which lacks real international course.
The common strike pairing of Naohiro Takahara and Yanagisawa usually do not get regular club soccer with Hamburg and Messina while the remainder of the side is made up of inhabitants from the vastly improving upon J-League. Only 4 in the 23 players in past decades Confederations Cup squad were being dependent overseas.
The centre 50 %-pairing of Gamba Osakas Tsuneyasu Miyamoto and Yokohamas Yuji Nakazawa ended up stable throughout a qualification campaign which conceded just five objectives but Brazil, Croatia and Australia will give a A lot sterner check. Portsmouth flop Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, made the scapegoat after Pompey dropped 4-one at home to Leyton Orient on his debut, has highlighted more than 80 periods in goal for his place.
Japan may be victims of their very own latest good results and expectation will likely be excellent at this a long time finals. Even though There exists loads of talent in midfield, the team as a whole may not be up to emulating their group topping exploits of 4 several years back and they are not likely to determine while in the knockout stages.
Suggested Wager
An unconvincing qualification marketing campaign and a lack of ambitions through the two strikers suggests Japan cannot be backed to qualify through the group. The truth is, they might be propping up The remainder by the point the a few to start with round matches are concluded and backing from them could be a better investment decision than supporting them.
Croatia to conquer Japan @ four/five