Japan

[Coulthard's Jaw]

How far can they go? Beating Spain AND Germany in the group stages is really impressive, Croatia next, must fancy their chances? And what about Brazil in the quarter finals?

[Smallen]

I think they could get to the semis.

They look very effective in the 5-4-1 low block that they played second half vs Germany and all game against Spain, especially when they bring Mitoma on. When they lose the ball high up they seem to counter press really well too which will be deadly against Brazil I think.

[Astafjevs]

QF at best. They'll lose easily to Brazil I think. Got a chance against Croatia 

[Darius1998]

Japan were 2-0 up against Belgium in 2018 and only missed out on the quarters because of that late comeback. They have a better squad now so they really should go for it against Croatia. Gvardiol is incredible but he's paired up with Lovren and Livakovic was awful at coming for crosses yesterday.

Still think Croatia are slight favourites because of their midfield but it should be close.

[Astafjevs]

Spain changed almost half their team yesterday, and had Simón make a bad error. Japan were excellent for 20 mins in the second half but they had a bit of help.

This is the same team that also lost to Costa Rica 

[PMLF]

Brazil played against Japan some months ago, we won 1-0 but it wasn’t easy:

Brazil dominated the game but didn’t really have many good chances to score, Neymar was our best player, he also scored our only goal (a penalty).

Brazil also beat South Korea 5-1 that week.

[kpain16]

Really like how they look when playing against a dominating team. And that's gonna be every team they face from now on.

So yeah, they have a solid chance against us but we have a squad that's good at grinding out results when they have to, so I think we should be winning this tie. It should be close though, so everything is possible.

[Gizzy]

They'll go out against Croatia.

It's easier playing the way they do to get a result against a big team. As losing to Costa Rica shows.

 

[The_jagster]

With Japan I don't think they beat Germany and Spain many times if they play the same games again. Germany missed so many chances, Japan had that one bad miss from the rebound, a good goal and the incredible second goal in the sense that the German right back plays Asano inside, and the finish has such a small window to beat Neuer. So many things went in their favour, even more so than the close decision against Spain who created much less.

They made their own luck of course but they happened to score in their windows of higher intensity and were poor against Costa Rica. They have a chance against Croatia but at times against Spain they were physically dominated and eased off the ball whenever they got possession. Tbh I thought they were pretty bad in the first half and didn't see the win coming at all.

Would have been interesting to see what Spain would do if they had a real chance of going out had Germany racked up the score or Costa Rica won.

[adhikapp]

Japan is a very system-over-players team. They got through the groups without staring Tomiyasu, Mitoma, Minamino, and Asano (where all of them has established their European careers to varying levels). Kubo has been in-and-out of the XI, and Furuhashi & Hatate didn't even make the squad. Granted, they rode a lot on luck for their comebacks against Spain & Germany, but they are effective. Even in the Costa Rica match, I thought they were comfortably the better team.

Looking at the draw, anything above QFs will be an overachievement.

[Anthrax Dave]

Croatia should win, but I do wonder whether the ageing Croatian midfield could cope with the pressing and counter that Japan play.

[kopsy101]

They're a beautifully organised team, interesting to see how they fare against Croatia.

[GunmaN1905]

1 hour ago, Anthrax Dave said:

 ageing Croatian midfield

Who exactly is old except for Modrić? Gimmicky phrases from people who don't even know the ages of the players on the team.

Perišić is 33, but a physical specimen.

Fyi, Croatia outran Canada the other day and Brozović clocked almost 14 kilometers covered.

Quote

counter that Japan play

That wouldn't be a midfield issue, but Lovren issue because he's too slow. Too bad he didn't get the second yellow yesterday.

 

Croatia is definitely a team with more quality, but so were Germany and Spain.

Germany missed a ton of chances and Spain's behavior after it was clear Germany would win against Costa Rica was questionable.

Japan's biggest advantage would be coach who's not afraid to make changes right away or even change the system. Croatian coach won't sub anyone other than the striker and right winger who aren't regular starters. Everyone else has too much credit from him. Modrić was done in the last 15ish minutes yesterday, but he'd never sub him off, even though there's plenty of depth in midfield.

Another thing is that Croatia won't go all out for the win like Germany did. Germans acted like they have an elite back line to deal with counters, which they didn't. Won't see that from Croatia. And Spain still insited on playing Busquets, one of the slowest players in the tournament, who's easily exploited on the counters. Brozović and Kovačić can support the defense in transition way better. So can Perišić.

But on the other hand, when we don't go attacking, we are dull with possession, similar to Spain and we don't have enough firepower against teams that are content with sitting deep.

Could very well be a match similar to Morroco, where noone created anything. I'd say if there's no early goal, it's either a 1-0 or even goes to extra time. 

Itakura, starting CB from Gladbach being suspended is also a problem for Japan.

Croatia and Spain matched up two times, in 1998 and 2006. Both games were pretty similar, 1-0 win in '98 with a late goal from Šuker and a dreadful 0-0 in 2006, scorching afternoon in Nurnberg, borderline unplayable conditions. Srna missed a penalty.

[Tony85]

Not sure how far they will get but I will be a huge Japan fan in the next round.

[silentwars]

Croatia didn't look great last night so they definitely have a chance against them, although I still make Croatia favourites. Little chance against Brazil though IMO. 

[Pompeyboyz]

The way this World Cup has gone, they could lose badly against Croatia or make the SF and neither would be a surprise

[Heartwork]

Their high intensity, low possession style seems to be causing problems for European teams so Croatia could have a tough time. They could Leicester their way through.

Edited December 2, 2022 by Heartwork

[Constantine]

I like Japan, a lot but I can't see them getting past Croatia. They're way too experienced to fall for the same trick Spain and Germany did and their biggest strength in this duel will, ironically, be their manager's cowardice. I can totally see Dalic shutting up shop, not allowing Sosa and Juranovic past half center line, putting Livaja and Kramaric up wide and hoping for something to happen.

[oche balboa]

They will beat Croatia and that would be the end of it 

[Weezer]

I like the team and love the country but as well as showing a lot of heart they’ve been very, very lucky. They’ll probably go out against Croatia and if you played this World Cup again they very likely don’t beat Germany and Spain again.

[enigmatic]

8 hours ago, Astafjevs said:

Spain changed almost half their team yesterday, and had Simón make a bad error. Japan were excellent for 20 mins in the second half but they had a bit of help.

This is the same team that also lost to Costa Rica 

Probably not coincidence they lost the game they expected to win and beat the teams who expected to beat them

Think they're well equipped to give Croatia a good game though.

Edited December 2, 2022 by enigmatic

[Lucas]

Tipping them to get past Croatia but I think it would be close.