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Japan hopes to rebound against Croatia
After suffering a late game collapse against Australia in their opening match, the Japanese are under heavy criticism and now face a must-win situation against Croatia in on Sunday.
Croatia are -150 favourites to win the match Japan are +420 underdogs The Draw is priced +240
Suffering from obvious fatigue in the later stages of the match, the Japanese gave up three goals in the final eight minutes in a 3-1 loss to Australia. Zico, Japan’s Brazilian coach, is now under fire from the Japanese media, who are questioning his second half substitutions.
Japan’s offence was virtually nonexistent. Apart from Shunsuke Nakamura’s goal in the 26th minute, the Japanese only registered one shot on target, while the Aussies connected with 12 shots on goal.
Japan will need an all-round better performance against Croatia to have any chance of reaching the knock-out rounds for their second straight World Cup.
Meanwhile, the Croats are coming off a disappointing 1-0 loss to the defending champs Brazil. Croatia couldn’t have played Brazil any tougher without coming away with a victory. Many Croatian fans feel they deserved at least a draw in their opening match.
“It was a great game but we didn’t deserve to lose. For a good part of the game we were the better team”, said Croatian coach Zlatko Kranjcar in an interview with FIFAworldcup.com.
Brazilian midfielder Kaka’s 44th minute goal was the only mistake Croatia made in the game -- a mistake that cost them three points.
The last time Croatia and Japan met in a World Cup match was in the group stage in 1998, when Davor Suker's 77th minute goal gave Croatia a 1-0 victory. The Croats went on to finish third at France ’98, their best ever World Cup performance.
Next up:
Croatia home to Australia, Thursday, June 22
Japan home to Brazil, Thursday, June 22
After suffering a late game collapse against Australia in their opening match, the Japanese are under heavy criticism and now face a must-win situation against Croatia in on Sunday.
Croatia are -150 favourites to win the match Japan are +420 underdogs The Draw is priced +240
Suffering from obvious fatigue in the later stages of the match, the Japanese gave up three goals in the final eight minutes in a 3-1 loss to Australia. Zico, Japan’s Brazilian coach, is now under fire from the Japanese media, who are questioning his second half substitutions.
Japan’s offence was virtually nonexistent. Apart from Shunsuke Nakamura’s goal in the 26th minute, the Japanese only registered one shot on target, while the Aussies connected with 12 shots on goal.
Japan will need an all-round better performance against Croatia to have any chance of reaching the knock-out rounds for their second straight World Cup.
Meanwhile, the Croats are coming off a disappointing 1-0 loss to the defending champs Brazil. Croatia couldn’t have played Brazil any tougher without coming away with a victory. Many Croatian fans feel they deserved at least a draw in their opening match.
“It was a great game but we didn’t deserve to lose. For a good part of the game we were the better team”, said Croatian coach Zlatko Kranjcar in an interview with FIFAworldcup.com.
Brazilian midfielder Kaka’s 44th minute goal was the only mistake Croatia made in the game -- a mistake that cost them three points.
The last time Croatia and Japan met in a World Cup match was in the group stage in 1998, when Davor Suker's 77th minute goal gave Croatia a 1-0 victory. The Croats went on to finish third at France ’98, their best ever World Cup performance.
Next up:
Croatia home to Australia, Thursday, June 22
Japan home to Brazil, Thursday, June 22
