Outright Odds: 300/1
Group F Winners: 16/1
Japan are a difficult team to predict. Last year they beat European champions Greece and earned a credible draw with Brazil in last year’s Confederations Cup but their qualifying campaign was less than convincing.
They lost just once in 12 qualifying matches, away at Iran, and topped the group overall, but they only managed to score more than two goals against a severely depleted Indian side and needed last minute wins against Oman and Korea DPR.
Such feebleness in qualification saw the public call for manager Zico’s head but the fact they qualified for the tournament will save the Brazilian football legend’s job for the time being. Japan reached the second round four years ago but they will do well to reach that stage this time around.
The 2002 campaign saw Japan defeat a dismal Russia before narrowly losing out to Turkey in the second round. Legend has it that then-coach Phillipe Troussier chose striker Akinori Nishizawa, who had not played in the tournament, ahead of regular strikers Takayuki Suzuki and Atushi Yanagisawa because it was his birthday. Surely Zico wouldn’t make such a mistake?
A UK-based midfield trio of Hidetoshi Nakata (Bolton Wanderers), Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Junichi Inamoto (West Bromwich Albion) and if fit, Shinji Ono of Feyenoord gives Japan their best chance of success – it’s the rest of the team which lacks true international class.
The regular strike pairing of Naohiro Takahara and Yanagisawa do not get regular club football with Hamburg and Messina while the rest of the side is made up of residents of the vastly improving J-League. Only four of the 23 players in last year’s Confederations Cup squad were based abroad.
The centre half-pairing of Gamba Osaka’s Tsuneyasu Miyamoto and Yokohama’s Yuji Nakazawa were solid throughout a qualification campaign which conceded just five goals but Brazil, Croatia and Australia will provide a much sterner test. Portsmouth flop Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, made the scapegoat after Pompey lost 4-1 at home to Leyton Orient on his debut, has featured over 80 times in goal for his country.
Japan may be victims of their own recent success and expectation will be great at this year’s finals. While there is plenty of talent in midfield, the team as a whole may not be up to emulating their group topping exploits of four years ago and are unlikely to figure in the knockout stages.
Recommended Bet
An unconvincing qualification campaign and a lack of goals from the two strikers means Japan cannot be backed to qualify from the group. In fact, they could be propping up the rest by the time the three first round matches are completed and backing against them could be a better investment than supporting them.
Croatia to beat Japan @ 4/5
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