Japan vs Croatia: Will the Samurai Blue continue to knockout the “Golden” Teams?
Japan will face Croatia in the knockout round for a spot in the quarterfinals. Kick-off is at 3.00 pm on Monday at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah.
The Samurai Blue’s have never made it past the round of 16 of the World Cup history. While Croatia were the runners-up against France in the 2018 final. The experience may be key in this round.
Japan: the group stages revolution
If there is something that we have learnt during the group stages in this World Cup it is that you cannot underestimate teams. Japan was one of the surprises after beating two of the tournament favourites, Germany and Spain.
The Samurai Blue lost just one game during the group stages against Costa Rica. They surprisingly topped the group ahead of Germany, who is out of the World Cup, and Spain, who was able to make it to the next round.
Hajime Moriyasu’s team had just 17.7% of the ball possession against Spain, which is the lowest figure for a winning side in World Cup history. Another record was broken, since 1966 only on two occasions a team has lost a game despite registering over 700 passes, this was the case in both Japan’s games against Germany and Spain.
The Japanese team conceded the first goal against Spain and Germany but the Samurai Blue beat both of them.
The Samurai Blue has not made a lot of changes either in the formation or the line-up.
Ritsu Doan could be one of the surprises in the starting XI. The striker has scored two of the four goals of the team. Doan made his way off the bench in the game against Spain, after only three minutes on the field he scored the equaliser and was key in the victory goal.
Croatia: the chance for redemption
Croatia has only lost two of their eight games at the knockout stages at the World Cup. Despite beating Canada 4-1, Croatia failed to score in their two other games against Belgium and Morocco, drawing 0-0 in both.
Dalic’s team likes to control possession, but that could play in favor of Japan. They averaged 32.3% of the ball in the three games combined. Their two wins against Germany and Spain came with a 26.1% and 17.7% possession respectively. The game that they lost against Costa Rica they had 56.89% of possession.
Croatia may have learned at this stage the strategy of the Samurai Blue. Discipline and patience are characteristics of the team. Croatia needs to be ready for a counterattack if they lose the ball, Japan doesn’t forgive a mistake.
Mateo Kovacic, Marcelo Brozovic and Luka Modric control the Croatian midfield but their attack is not as strong as they are.
Ivan Perisic is the player to watch. This wide man is capable of scoring. Perisic has set a seven goals record for the Croatia team. He is also the Croatian player with the most shots to goal in Qatar, a total of five.
The winner of this will face in the quarterfinals either Brazil or South Korea, who will be playing at 7pm on Monday.
