World Cup Preview: Japan-Russia
Japan - Russia | News Archive
Nakata and Ono are expected to rise to the occasion (Allsport)
06/08/2002. BACKGROUND
Japan's World Cup campaign faces another European test as they are set to battle Russia on Sunday afternoon. The co-hosts sent mixed signals in their World Cup opener against Belgium that ended in a 2-2 draw. Until Sukuki's equalizer, that was born out of a huge blunder on behalf of the Belgian defense, Japan looked confused and extremely weak in every sector of the pitch. But the lucky equalizer allowed the side coached by Philippe Troussier to show their other face, made of up enormous heart and a good level of technical play. This time Japan must try to show this façade for more than twenty minutes of the match, as Russia appear to be an even tougher side compared to the injury-torn Belgians. That is if one doesn't include the Tunisia match in this evaluation?br>
Oleg Romantsev's team did not convince at all during their 2-0 win against the nervous North African World Cup debutants. After a dismal first half, they took the lead thanks to an invention by Yegor Titov, and not surely through a very convincing game pattern. Reports from the Eastern European state indicate that spirits aren't that high in the Russian squad. The Russian media's frequent attacks directed towards coach Romantsev are greatly hurting the teams confidence. But a win against Japan would immediately silence the team's critics, as it would allow Group B's first placed team to book their ticket to the second round a game in advance.
TEAM NEWS
Troussier is expected to field the same side that snatched a 2-2 draw against Belgium. This means Ono, who played a horrific opening match, Hidetoshi Nakata, and new sensastion Junichi Inamoto will all be present on the five man midfield line. Some changes are instead expected in the Russian lineup. Romantsev told reporters he wasn't at all happy with his team's performance against Tunisia, and hitman Vladimir Beschastnykh might fall victim to his coach's wrath. Injured team leader Alexander Mostovoi will perform a fitness test before the match, but he will probably be rested again in favour of Marat Izmailov.
PROBABLE LINEUPS
Japan (3-5-2): Seigo Narazaki; Naoki Matsuda, Ryuzo Morioka, Koji Nakata; -Daisuke Ichikawa, Junichi Inamoto, Kazuyuki Toda, Hidetoshi Nakata, Shinji Ono; Takayuki Suzuki, Atsushi Yanagisawa
Russia (3-5-2): Ruslan Nigmatullin; Yuri Kovtun, Yuri Nikiforov, Viktor Onopko; Andrei Solomatin, Valery Karpin, Yegor Titov, Marat Izmailov, Dmitry Kokhlov; Vladimir Beschastnykh ( Dmitry Sychev), Ruslan Pimenov
FORM GUIDE
Japan (FIFA Ranking 32)
Japan-Belgium: 2-2 Overall Team Performance: 6/10
Russia (FIFA Ranking 27)
Russia-Tunisa: 2-0 Overall Team Performance: 5,5/10
WHO'S HOT
Inamoto (Japan)- The relatively unknown Arsenal midfielder made global headlines after his team's opening draw. He carried the entire midfield on his shoulders, and also scored a Mardaona-like the goal that was unfairly disallowed.
Titov (Russia)-His 20 meter blast that handed Russia the lead against Tunisia saved his team from disaster.
WHO'S NOT
Japan stars Ono and Nakata were very disappointing against Belgium. The Feyenoord player was so inexistent that Troussier took him off the pitch after only 60 mintues, while the Parma midfielder failed to do anything that could live up to his superstar status. The former AS Roma player will especially need to perform some magic, as only in this manner will he prove there isn't an underground row going on between him and his French coach.
Ismailov-Mostovoi's replacement did not make his mark in the Tunisia match, and this was a major reason why the Russian game pattern was slow and predictable. His past year at Locomotiv demonstrated he has the talent to do much better.
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS
These two teams never met before in official matches.
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