Yamaguchi's aerial ability is not as good as Hasebe. He cannot vie for the headers like Hasebe, not to mention the difference in technical and physical ability. Japan has been handling the aerial balls pretty well this tournament, such as the long balls and set-pieces. If Yamaguchi is in for Hasebe, Japan will be weaker when defending it. JNT can't just rely on Shoji and Yoshida to vie for every long balls. Makino might be suitable as a replacement if needed imo. He has played as a DM before iirc. He can also handle physicality better than Yamaguchi. Of course, if Hasebe can play, he will play. There is no one better than him in his position now in the squad.
Where is this coming from? During the whole regular season he didn't miss any single minute aside for injuries, one red card and one and a half game back in November where he was a rested sub.
Makino has never played as DM. Yamaguchi, Wataru Endo or even Gotoku Sakai are the possible replacements for Hasebe.
I'm sure Hasebe will be fine fitness wise. Most players are during world cups unless they get Injured
Janny Sikazwe from Zambia will be the referee for Japan's matches against Ghana. He previously refereed Kashima Antlers vs Real Madrid in the 2016 FIFA Club Wold Cup final.
There's 0 chance for Makino to play not only as Hasebe's sub but to play at all (if we stay injuryfree of course). Wataru Endo and Gotoku Sakai? Don't be silly, Nishino will never try something revolutionary, he will prefer the obvious choice aka Yamaguchi. Obviously Hasebe is irreplaceable, I was talking about how to rest him.
Already eliminated Peru won 2-0 against Australia who still had a chance of progressing although Denmark-France draw ensued that both teams progresses at the other end nevertheless. Japan cannot afford to count down other teams to do a favour. Japan must AT LEAST draw against Poland to secure qualification. Japan must go for the win like their previous two matches against Poland.
This is the most anxious I've ever been for a Japan game. I just want to get this game over with. My other team (USA) got eliminated by T&T when all they needed was a draw.
I have a bad feeling about this. 2002 Poland 0-2 South Korea Poland 0-4 Portugal Poland 3-1 USA 2006 Poland 0-2 Ecuador Poland 0-1 Germany Poland 2-1 Costa Rica I just can't imagine Lewandowski will finish the tournament with no goals.
He will hopefully finish the tournament with no goals, and who knows it might be a third time charm for Japan. Anyhow, as for Poland's results in the third group stage match after losing their first two, you have to put this stats in context. In 2002, Poland met USA, a team that always struggled against East/Central European team at the world stage even if they were in a good form. Let's have a look at USA's results since 1990 WC against East/Central European teams: 1990 WC: lost against Austria and Czechoslovakia. 1994: lost against Romania and drew against Switzerland (despite winning against Colombia and narrowly losing against the eventual champions Brazil 0-1 in the last 16). 1998: lost against Yugoslavia. 2002: lost against Poland (despite defeating Portugal and their bogey-team Mexico, and drawing against the co-hosts S. Korea in their way to reach a remarkable QF finish -they eventually lost against Germany-). 2006: lost against Czech Republic 0-3, even though they managed to draw with the eventual champions Italy, and narrowly lost against Ghana (both defeated the Czechs easily). 2010: drew against Slovenia in the last 10 minutes (after being 0-2 down at HT). 2014: lost against Germany. While in 2006, Costa Rica was the weakest team of the group, they lost all of their group stage games and never stood a chance to form a challenge to the Poles. So, let's not be pessimistic, it will be a tough game for sure and it can end up with a win, draw or lose. Hopefully Japan will manage to win to top the group and show the doubters that they can win without a man advantage and their win against Colombia wasn't a fluke.
This might be an advantage in disguise for Japan: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/football/44621838? Polish players are more familiar with colder weather than Japanese, and they never played a competitive match recently, not even a friendly outside Europe with such a high temperature. While Japan are more familiar with hot temperatures, as they are playing competitive matches in WCQ in the hot temperatures of the Middle East and South East Asia.
Nishino might rest Hasebe tomorrow and start with Yamaguchi, in what it could be the only starting line-up change in Japan's group stage matches: https://www.nikkansports.com/soccer/russia2018/news/201806260001009.html
Finally a bit of optimism in this pessimistic miasma! I add these: - Japan won against Poland in the previous two match before this one (5-0 in 1996 and 2-0 in 2002) - The only previous match Poland had against an asian side at the WC was against SK in 2002 and it was a defeat (2-0)
Not a problem! Japan - Poland 4-3 Lewandosky Inui Lewandosky Osako Lewandosky (pk) Honda (fk) Kawashima (by ck)
Ok probably I'm turning crazy cuz of the agitation but after today's matches I check the Playoffs and if we reach the final16 whatever will be our opponent we absolutely need to top GroupH to be in the better side of the table. Winning tomorrow and leading the group we can meet the weaker between England and Belgium and then the winner between Sweden and Switzerland in the final8. Only at the semifinal we can meet Croatia or Spain.
Correct. If we finish runners-up we will meet either Belgium or England in the last 16, and either Brazil or Mexico in th QF. But let's think one by one, as our team needs not to lose against Poland tomorrow to guarantee their passage to the last 16 regardless of the outcome of Senegal vs Colombia match.
it's always best to just try and win every group game, forget about playing for second place because it could end up going terribly wrong.
Thanks to the guy who posted on Japan vs Senegal thread now I realized that with a defeat against Poland, Colombia and Senegal can simply draw and qualified cuz Colombia has a better score than us (+2).
Agree. Teams that have been eliminated or closed to eliminated like Peru, etc. have not lay down and give up on their final group match. Poland won't either. Japan need to go all out and capture first place. I don't know if England or Belgium are harder, imo England are tougher as they are more cohesive as a unit but it is hard to tell too.
I hope Nishino sticks with his offensive tactics. IMO it would be a big mistake to concede possession and play for a draw, even though we’d go through with 0-0. A Lewandowski goal would be almost inevitable in that situation, in open play or more likely by penalty. Despite the FIFA rankings, on the whole the talent advantage Poland has over Japan is a small one at best, so the defensive approach an inferior team might take vs a superior one is unnecessary. Maintain positional discipline, of course, but go for the goal that will destroy Poland’s already shaky morale and take their fans out of the game (I expect that they will have a significant advantage in fan support).
You remind me who the heck he is! But this time it's Poland and not Real Madrid and there's no Ramos aka NoRedCardMan on the pitch.
One additional problem with Hasebe, he picked up a stupid yellow card and will miss out in potential top 16 finish and knowing Hasebe and the magnitude of this match that yellow card is coming