Frank LorenzoJapan and Greece are obligated to win if they want to stay alive in the Brazil 2014 World Cup, when they meet this Thursday at 6 PM ET at the Das Dunas Stadium in Natal, for group C.
Japan and Greece are obligated to win if they want to stay alive in the Brazil 2014 World Cup, when they meet this Thursday at 6 PM ET at the Das Dunas Stadium in Natal, for group C.
For the Japanese, the game is crucial; they were expected to win game one against Ivory Coast, and after leading 1-0 for a long time, they lost the game after two errors. Japan has evolved a lot as a team, but they need to show the world why they are a good soccer squad.
In 2010, Japan was able to get to the second round at South Africa, but now starting with a loss against a direct rival complicates things a lot.
For Greece things are even more complicated; they lost against Colombia 3-0, and didn’t show anything they are known for as they looked disorganized and lazy on defense, while weak and predictable on offense.
The Greeks will play Japan and then Ivory Coast; their road to the second round doesn’t get easy and in order to advance they need to win both games and win them with a huge goal differential. I’m counting them out because offensive football is not their style.
Japan and Greece have only met once; it was back in 2005 when the Japanese beat the Greeks 1-0 at the Confederation Cup at Germany, back when both were Champions of their respective confederations.
The World Cup odds have Japan as the favorite rated +125 to win and Greece is +260 to get the upset.
