World Cup
2010-06-24 - Denmark vs Japan
A Sports Betting Pick by ROzsolt
Football: FIFA World Cup: Group E
Venue: Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
Thursday 24th June 2010 – Kickoff time: 19:30 GMT
Denmark (FIFA rank: 36)
Denmark hit back from an early deficit to re-ignite their World Cup challenge and in the process extinguish Cameroon's chances of getting through to the second round.
The result means that Denmark join their next opponents Japan on three points, while group leaders Netherlands are now guaranteed a top-two finish - making them the first team to progress.
The winner in this fixture will book it’s place into the knockout phase. With Japan having a better goal difference than the Danes, a draw would be enough for them to secure qualification.
For the game against Cameroon, Denmark coach Morten Olsen made two changes to the side that lost to Holland, bringing in fit-again captain Jon Dahl Tomasson and Jesper Gronkjaer. Bendtner also took his place in the starting line-up for the second successive game despite struggling with a groin injury that means he can only train every other day and only having lasted an hour against the Dutch.
Denmark, having lost their opening match to Holland, picked a team intent on attacking but this sacrificed their defensive solidity, and they were repeatedly exposed whenever Eto'o and Emana ran at them. Their defense was creaking but at the other end Denmark had chances too in what quickly proved to be one of the most open games of the tournament.
It was a performance where Denmark's experienced players quietly got the job done and helped their side to a vital three points. In the dying moments Kjaer picked up a yellow card which means he will miss the match against Japan.
Daniel Agger admitted that despite winning “it was one of the worst performances we've given in a long time”.
Japan (FIFA rank: 45)
Japan registered a predictable defeat in their second group stage match against Netherlands which puts them in a position to defend their second place, not being allowed to lose against Denmark on Thursday in order to qualify.
Japan went into this match with an unchanged side, which meant Keisuke Honda as the lone man up front again, and a very defensive formation. Japan was set up to play for a point and frustrated the Dutch throughout the first half.
The first half possession was overwhelmingly in favor of the Dutch, but in the first 45 minutes Eiji Kawashima was not threatened once so we could say that the tactics were effective.
But Japan were inviting pressure because of the possession and as it turned out, the only goal came after the Dutch upped their game at the start of the second half, but they had a slice of fortune when Wesley Sneijder’s shot should have been saved, but Kawashima seemed to dive too far and ended up just deflecting the ball into the net.
Japan created one great chance of their own in the very last minute, but Shinji Okazaki couldn’t keep his shot down and the chance was missed. It was defeat that could have been a draw, but the battling performance provided a bit of encouragement for the Japanese. They showed very little attacking intent but when they did, they showed they have the ability to cause one or two problems for a good side.
Japan captain Makoto Hasebe says coach Takeshi Okada has urged his players to put everything on the line in Thursday's showdown with Denmark: "The coach has told us that in life you only get a few opportunities to reach the knockout stages of the World Cup and told us to give it our all."
