Japan and Greece will both be looking for three points on Thursday in their Group C match at the World Cup in Brazil after losing their opening game. A loss basically puts one team out of the tournament, while the winner still has a lifeline. A draw helps a little, but three points are better than one, so they say.
World Cup Odds: Japan +113, Greece +255, Draw +240
Why Japan Can Win
Japan can roll through this game easily enough if they play the way they did in the first 45 minutes of their 2-1 loss to the Ivory Coast. They used their speed to give the Africans trouble and Keisuke Honda was rewarded with an excellent goal, but they changed their tactics when the Ivorians brought on Didier Drogba and Japan didn’t know how to handle him. One factor that might help is their opponent as Greece doesn’t have the speed or size of the Ivory Coast, especially in the middle of the field. Captain Makoto Hasebe and Yasuhito Endo tried their best, but they couldn’t handle a half-fit Yaya Toure. Greece doesn’t have a player like that.
Japan also needs Shinji Kagawa to snap out of his slumber and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was dropped for this match. He seems to be lacking confidence after a terrible season at Manchester United and it has carried over to the World Cup.
Why Greece Can Win
Greece can frustrate a team into making mistakes with their defensive style, but they ran into a buzzsaw in Colombia in a 3-0 loss. It could have easily had been 3-2 if they had put away the chances they had at the offensive end, and Greece definitely played better soccer in the second half when they had to chase the game, which makes you wonder: why wait until you have to chase the game? If Greece comes out looking to score early, that could put Japan on the back foot because they wouldn’t expect it.
However, this Greece team has played like this since stunning everyone in 2004 to win the European Championship, beating Portugal on their home soil. The rest of the world knows what Greece is all about now and the Greeks have to figure out a way to keep the opposition on their toes, or else they’ll be going home very, very soon.
Outlook
These two countries have met just once, with Japan beating Greece 1-0 in the group stage of the 2005 Confederations Cup in Germany, so it is safe to say this will be the biggest meeting ever between the two. It’ll be interesting to see if Greece tries to go toe-to-toe with Japan, and they’re a more physical side, but Japan has the edge speed-wise and that could be the difference. If Japan plays a full 90 minutes as they did in the first 45 against the Ivory Coast, they will dominate the Greeks, who will go out in the World Cup group stage once again.
Pick: Japan
