After losing their respective opening matches, both Greece and Japan will hope to rediscover the qualities that got them to Brazil in the first place in their bid for survival in Group C.
For Greece, it is their rock solid defense. A decade ago, the Greeks won the European Championships in Portugal by conceding a miserly four goals. The present crop carried on that tradition by letting in just four goals in 10 qualification games for the 2014 World Cup. The match against Colombia changed all that. The South Americans tore Greece apart with speed on the wings and the Greeks did not know how to respond. If they are to go one better than the previous Greek World Cup campaigns- they have never advanced past the group stage- Greece need all three points against Japan.
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For Japan, it was their attacking flair that helped them become the first country to qualify for Brazil but they paid the price for their uncharacteristic timidity after taking an early lead in the 2-1 loss to Ivory Coast. They decided to sit deep after Keisuke Honda’s goal and were eventually outmuscled by the powerful Africans. Lone striker Yuya Osaka was disappointing up front as was Manchester United midfielder Shinji Kagawa. Goal scorer Keisuke Honda didn’t fare too well in the second half either. Japan made it to the Round of 16 in South Africa 4 years ago before bowing out (pun not intended) to Paraguay on penalties.
With regards to history, there is nothing to go on here as this is the first time the two sides are meeting in the World Cup. Japan, however, recorded a 1-0 win over Greece when they clashed at the 2005 Confederations Cup.
TEAM NEWS
Japan’s Italian manager Alberto Zaccheroni is expected to switch things around a bit for the match. While Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda will retain their places in the starting XI, Yoshito Okuto might get the nod ahead of Yuya Osaka up front and Vice-captain Yasuhito Endo could also start in midfield. More importantly, the Blue Samurai will be instructed to attack the Greeks with pace in the hopes of wearing them down.
Greece manager Fernando Santos is also expected to make some changes. Giannis Fetfatzidis could be preferred to Dimitris Salpingidis in attack while Fanis Gekas could make way for Kostas Mitroglou up front. The Fulham striker was Greece’s top scorer in qualifying but has battled with knee injuries since the start of the year.
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Probable Line ups
Japan (4-2-3-1): Kawashima; Nagatomo, Yoshida, Morishige, Uchida; Endo, Hasebe; Kagawa, Honda, Okazaki, Okuto
Greece (4-3-3): Karnezis; Holebas, Papastathopoulos, Manolas, Torosidis; Maniatis, Katsouranis, Kone; Samaras, fetfatzidis, Mitroglou
PREDICTION
I fully expect Japan to go back to their slick, quick attacking game after they were burned against Ivory Coast. Greece, on their part will want to sit deep while trying to hit their opponents on the counter. If Japan manage to score an early goal, Greece will be lost and the Blue samurai will run out comfortable winners.
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