Japan vs England Match Preview
Japan and England meet in Austria on Sunday in a pre-World Cup friendly. The Japanese are coming off two defeats; England is coming off a less-than-satisfying win. Both clubs could use a quality performance to boost their confidence for South Africa.
Japan boss Takeshi Okada may be wondering that he still has a jobConsecutive home losses to Serbia and South Korea cannot have enhanced the self-belief of the Japanese squad as the World Cup looms, and under-fire coach Takeshi Okada may well be wondering how it is he still has a job. Certainly others are.
Japan’s 0-3 loss to Serbia in Osaka last month set tongues wagging about Okada’s status as coach and the 0-2 loss to South Korea in Saitama earlier this week apparently set Okada’s own tongue wagging as he volunteered to his boss, Japan FA President Motoaki Inukai that perhaps he ought to step down.
But Inukai has kept faith with the national team’s manager and so Okada will attend his second World Cup as Japan boss, while his much-derided dream of a top four finish for the Japanese still lives.
Euro based players not enough
Even the presence of former Celtic and now Espanyol star Shunsuke Nakamura and CSKA Moscow’s Keisuke Honda wasn’t enough to boost the Japanese past their South Korean nemesis. It was Japan’s second consecutive loss to the Koreans, although in the earlier one Okada had fielded a squad of domestic-based players.
The England match on Sunday will be the Japanese squad’s penultimate opportunity to pull together the tactics necessary to compete in Group E where they’ll meet Cameroon, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Previous Encounters
The two countries have met before. A friendly in 1995 saw England run out 2-1 winners. Another friendly in 2004 resulted in a 1-1 draw.
This time around, however, the quality gap between the two squads and the seriousness of the preparations suggest that England should have little difficulty dispatching the Japanese on Sunday.
England not quite ready yet, though
England, however, is not without its own concerns. Their 3-1 friendly win over Mexico earlier this week revealed that manager Fabio Capello has work to do, especially in the midfield.
Granted, the England squad has not yet been narrowed to its final 23, and against Mexico the Chelsea players (Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole and John Terry) were rested, as was David James of Portsmouth, due to their participation in the FA Cup Final the week before.
Mexico’s speed was troublesome
Still, the speed and creativity of the Mexican attack proved troublesome for England on several occasions, and were it not for goalkeeper Robert Green, who made two fine goal-stopping saves, as well as a bit of luck when Crouch bundled the ball into the Mexican goal off his arm, the result England striker Peter Crouch scored off his arm against Mexicoagainst Mexico might have been very different indeed.
On the other hand, in the attack Theo Walcott on the right proved effective time and again, Crouch was always troublesome for the Mexican defenders and Rooney was a menacing presence as usual.
In the midfield, however, the England men gave the ball away too often and failed to deal with the energetic Mexicans.
Similar trouble against Japan would be a surprise. In particular since Fabio Capello brings a sense of adaptability to a squad that is choc-full of talent. And yet, as the match against Mexico showed, problems remain to be solved.
Confidence will be their goal
Regardless of the score at the end of the game on Sunday, it’s really a feeling of confidence both squads seek as they prepare to travel to South Africa.
However, anything less than a comfortable victory over Japan will be seen as a troubling development for the England team.
Japan’s final pre-World Cup friendly is scheduled for next week against Ivory Coast. But if Okada doesn’t have his squad beginning to gel as a team against England, and as a cohesive unit by the time they face Ivory Coast, his dream of a semi-final appearance in South Africa will remain just that. In truth it’s likely to anyway.
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