Match Previews
World Cup 2018
Round Group H
Colombia
Last updated: Tue 19 June 2018 05:47Expected to excite and score goals with ease. Favourites to top their group and repeat strong results from last World Cup. The main left-back F. Fabra got injured just before the tournament. J. Rodriguez and W. Barrios might not be risked.
Colombia dramatically reached the World Cup on the last day of the qualifiers and the Los Cafeteros had problems back in 2017. They need to thank their early form in South America for the direct place in the finals after failing to win any of their last four official matches.
Colombia achieved their best ever World Cup result when reaching the quarterfinals in 2014 and in their sixth appearance at the tournament they want to at least replicate that.
Experienced coach Pekerman opted for only one friendly on the run up to the tournament with his players held by Egypt to a 0:0 draw at the start of June.
Pekerman has lots of talent in his ranks and with James Rodriguez backing his six goals from the last World Cup with six more in the qualifiers, plus showing great form late in the season for Bayern, the Colombians look really impressive every time they are in attack.
The main left-back Fabra suffered nasty injury in the Egypt game that rules him out, with the 34-year-old veteran Diaz called as an urgent replacement.
Uribe started the last three matches as a left winger and he enters this tournament after scoring 11 goals in his last 18 club matches in Mexico. However, in search of more agression Muriel might be preferred from the off in this one.
The big star James Rodriguez and the holding midfielder Barrios were absent from Colombia's first training on Russian soil due to minor problems, but on Friday they resumed training with the group. Still in his press-conference the manager suggested that they might not be risked and if Rodriguez doesn't start Quintero is tipped to replace him.
Falcao missed the last World Cup due to injury and this is his last chance to shine on the biggest stage.
Japan
Last updated: Tue 19 June 2018 06:49Japan beat Paraguay to end a five-match winless streak. Still getting to grips with a new coach. No major selection headaches. Okazaki unable to play. Shoji treated gingerly.
Japan completed their World Cup preparations last Tuesday with a 4-2 victory over Paraguay. After falling behind in the first half, they hit back in the second, with Takashi Inui scoring twice before an own goal and a late strike from Shinji Kagawa helped seal victory.
The road to Russia 2018 has proven to be a rocky one for the Japanese side, who are still adapting to new head coach Akira Nishino. He only took over three months ago following the shock sacking of Vahid Halilhodzic .
Results in the build up to the competition have been disappointing to say the least. Prior to the win over Paraguay, they had lost three in succession, including defeats to Ukraine and Ghana, who have not even made it to Russia. Indeed, they had lost four of five.
Shinji Okazaki was thought to be fighting fit after a problem kept him out for the last month of the domestic season. He played over an hour last Tuesday but has not trained fully this week along with Shoji Gen and Ryota Ohshima. Okazaki failed to train with the squad Sunday and after doing likewise on Monday, he has been ruled out.
Hiroki Sakai, who might have been expected to start at right-back for the Samurai Blue, has struggled with a knee injury of late, but the Marseille defender did manage to play the second half of the match against Paraguay. With an extra week of training in his legs, he may be able to feature from the start.
After starting out in a 3-4-3 formation under their new coach, Japan have used a 4-2-3-1 in their last couple of games. The Paraguay match was a fringe team, but the players played well enough to potentially change the coach's plans.
Nishino has promised an attacking style of play from his team.
4-2-3-1 Previous Line Ups
| Player | Rat. | Pos. | No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| D. Ospina | |||
| S. Arias | |||
| D. Sanchez | |||
| Y. Mina | |||
| J. Mojica | |||
| A. Aguilar | |||
| C. M. Sanchez | |||
| J. Cuadrado | |||
| J. F. Quintero | |||
| L. Muriel | |||
| R. Falcao |
4-2-3-1 Previous Line Ups
| Player | Rat. | Pos. | No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| E. Kawashima | |||
| G. Sakai | |||
| M. Yoshida | |||
| T. Makino | |||
| Y. Nagatomo | |||
| M. Hasebe | |||
| R. Oshima | |||
| G. Haraguchi | |||
| K. Honda | |||
| T. Usami | |||
| Y. Muto |
| Player | Rat. | Pos. | No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| C. Vargas | |||
| J.F. Cuadrado | |||
| C. Zapata | |||
| O. Murillo | |||
| F. Diaz | |||
| J. Lerma | |||
| J. Rodriguez | |||
| W. Barrios | |||
| M. Uribe | |||
| C. Bacca | |||
| J. Izquierdo | |||
| M. Borja |
| Player | Rat. | Pos. | No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| M. Higashiguchi | |||
| K. Nakamura | |||
| N. Ueda | |||
| G. Shoji | |||
| W. Endo | |||
| H. Sakai | |||
| G. Shibasaki | |||
| S. Kagawa | |||
| T. Inui | |||
| H. Yamaguchi | |||
| Y. Osako |
| Player | Rat. | Pos. | No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| D. Ospina | |||
| S. Arias | |||
| D. Sanchez | |||
| Y. Mina | |||
| J. Mojica | |||
| A. Aguilar | |||
| C. M. Sanchez | |||
| J. Cuadrado | |||
| J. F. Quintero | |||
| L. Muriel | |||
| R. Falcao |
| Player | Rat. | Pos. | No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| C. Vargas | |||
| J.F. Cuadrado | |||
| C. Zapata | |||
| O. Murillo | |||
| F. Diaz | |||
| J. Lerma | |||
| J. Rodriguez | |||
| W. Barrios | |||
| M. Uribe | |||
| C. Bacca | |||
| J. Izquierdo | |||
| M. Borja |
Japan
Last updated: Tue 19 June 2018 06:49Japan beat Paraguay to end a five-match winless streak. Still getting to grips with a new coach. No major selection headaches. Okazaki unable to play. Shoji treated gingerly.
Japan completed their World Cup preparations last Tuesday with a 4-2 victory over Paraguay. After falling behind in the first half, they hit back in the second, with Takashi Inui scoring twice before an own goal and a late strike from Shinji Kagawa helped seal victory.
The road to Russia 2018 has proven to be a rocky one for the Japanese side, who are still adapting to new head coach Akira Nishino. He only took over three months ago following the shock sacking of Vahid Halilhodzic .
Results in the build up to the competition have been disappointing to say the least. Prior to the win over Paraguay, they had lost three in succession, including defeats to Ukraine and Ghana, who have not even made it to Russia. Indeed, they had lost four of five.
Shinji Okazaki was thought to be fighting fit after a problem kept him out for the last month of the domestic season. He played over an hour last Tuesday but has not trained fully this week along with Shoji Gen and Ryota Ohshima. Okazaki failed to train with the squad Sunday and after doing likewise on Monday, he has been ruled out.
Hiroki Sakai, who might have been expected to start at right-back for the Samurai Blue, has struggled with a knee injury of late, but the Marseille defender did manage to play the second half of the match against Paraguay. With an extra week of training in his legs, he may be able to feature from the start.
After starting out in a 3-4-3 formation under their new coach, Japan have used a 4-2-3-1 in their last couple of games. The Paraguay match was a fringe team, but the players played well enough to potentially change the coach's plans.
Nishino has promised an attacking style of play from his team.
| Player | Rat. | Pos. | No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| E. Kawashima | |||
| G. Sakai | |||
| M. Yoshida | |||
| T. Makino | |||
| Y. Nagatomo | |||
| M. Hasebe | |||
| R. Oshima | |||
| G. Haraguchi | |||
| K. Honda | |||
| T. Usami | |||
| Y. Muto |
| Player | Rat. | Pos. | No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| M. Higashiguchi | |||
| K. Nakamura | |||
| N. Ueda | |||
| G. Shoji | |||
| W. Endo | |||
| H. Sakai | |||
| G. Shibasaki | |||
| S. Kagawa | |||
| T. Inui | |||
| H. Yamaguchi | |||
| Y. Osako |