Preview: Australia vs. Japan

GAME DETAILS
Australia vs Japan, Kaiserslautern, 15:00 CET

THE BIG PICTURE
Australia have recently joined Japan in the Asian Football Confederation, so this could be the start of a long running battle for dominance of the region. More immediately, Brazil’s anticipated dominance of Group F means there’s only the runner up spot to play for. If either side loses this game they’ll likely need a result against Ronaldinho and co. to advance.

Scout Report – Australia

Strengths – All but two of the Australian squad play for European teams. Talented striker Mark Viduka sometimes fails to pull his weight for Middlesbrough, but should put in that extra effort when captaining the Socceroos. Harry Kewell has a Champions league winners medal and a touch of class (when he’s in the mood), Tim Cahill has perfected the art of making perfectly timed goal-scoring runs from midfield and Marco Bresciano takes a decent set-piece. They’re a fit, physical team and won’t shy away from making tough tackles. Just ask the Dutch.

Weaknesses – Their (former) affiliation to the Oceania Football Confederation means Australia have never faced quality opposition on a regular basis. Inexperience in international tournaments could also be a factor, especially with their physical approach which could provoke a flurry of cards.

Scout Report – Japan

Strengths – A talented midfield contains Japanese legend Hidetoshi Nakata, Shunsuke Nakamura (who has been in impressive form for Celtic this season) Shinji Ono and their own set piece specialist Mitsuo Ogasawara. Coach Zico’s relaxed footballing philosophy will give these four players more scope to be creative then predecessor Phillipe Troussier’s rigid (but effective) approach.

Weaknesses – Zico has brought five strikers to Germany, but not because they were all too good to leave behind. Japan are seriously lacking a reliable goal-scorer, which could prove their undoing. While the defence doesn’t lack talent, only Yuji Nakazawa could be described as tall, which could make Japan vulnerable from set pieces.

Teams: Likely formation; shirt numbers; name, caps, goals, coach

Australia (4-5-1): 1-Mark Schwarzer (37-0); 7-Brett Emerton (46-11), 2-Lucas Neil (24-0), 3-Craig Moore (32-2), 14-Scott Chipperfield (44-11); 13-Vince Grella (17-0), 5-Jason Culina (12-1), 4-Tim Cahill (16-9), 23-Marco Bresciano (23-7), 10-Harry Kewell (20-6); 11-Mark Viduka (32-6) Coach: Guus Hiddink

Japan (3-5-2): 23-Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (89-0); 5-Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (captain, 69-3), 22-Yuji Nakazawa (50-9), 19-Keisuke Tsuboi (33-0); 3-Yuichi Komano (8-0), 7-Hidetoshi Nakata (74-11), 15-Takashi Fukunishi (62-7), 10-Shunsuke Nakamura (60-15), 14-Alex (72-5); 9-Naohiro Takahara (41-17), 13-Atsushi Yanagisawa (56-17) Coach: Zico

THE BOTTOM LINE
Bob sez: Japan 2-1
Chris sez: Australia 1-0
Sean sez: Australia 2-1
Peter sez: 1-1
Nick sez: Japan 1-0

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