I guess Januzaj said it right (I think he knows Kagawa from his time in Manchester United) and the Belgium NT Twitter wrote it wrong. The funny thing is that same Shinsuke replied the tweet
I looked at the World Cup odds from 2002, and Japan were actually the betting favourites against Belgium. Even 10 years ago these teams would be considered pretty equal, but now Belgium is seen as the far stronger team.
Guys what the heck are you talking about? You seems like the "football experts" in my country that talked about Spain vs Croatia in the quarterfinals as Russia didn't exist or people now talking about Belgium vs Brazil as Japan and Mexico (actually 0-0) were only a traning match. What I mean is that IF Japan had won Poland and group the first opponent would be ENGLAND with Harry Kane aka Top Scorer of this WC, how can be an easy path the one where you meet with this kind of challenge?
You know, teams who are calculating about "easiest route" etc usually doesn't end up doing well. Can you name one team who did that who actually went on to win the tournament? And to hear the so-called tv experts doing the same makes me cringe. Of course, on paper the other side of the draw might look easier but chances are it will not. England is no worse than Belgium ( I would actually say they are better as they are more balanced). Croatia are in the form of their lives, and never, never underestimate playing against a host nation. Brazil have looked weak, and are struggling against Mexico as we speak although they are 1-0 up. France have been horrible to watch except for that win vs Argentina, and at this point I would actually fear Croatia more than both of those.
Same starting line-up as in the first two matches: Kawashima. Hiroki Sakai - Shoji - Yoshida - Nagatomo. Hasebe - Shibasaki. Haraguchi - Kagawa - Inui. Osako.
These players scored 4 goals in 2 match against Colombia and Senegal defence hitting 1 crossbar and wasted at least 2 clear chance to score. Now even if we lose I wanna see them score 2 against Belgium PLEASE.
We have our teams for #BELJPN! #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/hDFXg7n6Kg— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 2, 2018
Lets go AFC. AFC did solid this year in the group stages. They Averaged 3 points per team which is probably the highest per team average for the AFC if I am not mistaken. Europe and CONEMBOL finished way ahead at 5 but AFC finished above Concacrap and CAF by a healthy margin.
I only wish they dont play as defensively as Russia, Mexico. Play your game fight hard, I do hope they are able to create possesion instead of just pulling back inviting pressure and goals. Although I do think that is exactly what they will do I am afraid
It's a tough ask for the boys in blue but with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work they can do it!. Keep it tight, play to your strengths and at least give them a tough game and you never know what can happen! Let's do it!