Netherlands face Japan in group topping game
Friday, 18 June 2010
DURBAN, South Africa, June 17 (AFP): The Netherlands face Japan here Saturday with both teams in a position to battle for top spot in Group E, a position that would see them potentially avoid Italy in the second round.
The Dutch beat Denmark 2-0 in their first game while the Japanese shocked Cameroon 1-0 for their first ever World Cup victory on foreign soil. The African side play the Danes in Saturday's late match.
Dutch coach Bert Van Marwijk said the familiarity with Denmark's game made for a no-mistakes contest Monday, but he was expecting a different challenge against the Japanese.
"Now the players are more relaxed and less nervous after their opening game I expect a better performance against Japan," he said.
"The opening game in a tournament is always difficult, and while our first-half performance was not up to our standard, we should have worked things out better over this week in training."
But the Oranje, two-time beaten World Cup finalists in 1974 and 1978, will likely be without star Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben, who has failed to recover from a left hamstring injury sustained in a 6-1 friendly win over Hungary just before the tournament started.
"He is coming along well, but he is not yet ready to play for an entire game and it could be another eight days," van Marwijk said.
In their last encounter together, the Dutch beat Japan 3-0 in a friendly in Enschede in September, but the Blue Samurai dominated early on before conceding three goals in the last 20 minutes.
"We did particularly well in the first half. I think what will matter is how we can keep ourselves focused on our defence in the second half," Japanese midfielder Junichi Inamoto said.
"We want to attack the ball hard and we know it will be a tough match," said the 30-year-old veteran of three World Cups, who returned to J-League team Kawasaki Frontale last January after nine years at European clubs including Arsenal and Fulham.
The Dutch beat Denmark 2-0 in their first game while the Japanese shocked Cameroon 1-0 for their first ever World Cup victory on foreign soil. The African side play the Danes in Saturday's late match.
Dutch coach Bert Van Marwijk said the familiarity with Denmark's game made for a no-mistakes contest Monday, but he was expecting a different challenge against the Japanese.
"Now the players are more relaxed and less nervous after their opening game I expect a better performance against Japan," he said.
"The opening game in a tournament is always difficult, and while our first-half performance was not up to our standard, we should have worked things out better over this week in training."
But the Oranje, two-time beaten World Cup finalists in 1974 and 1978, will likely be without star Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben, who has failed to recover from a left hamstring injury sustained in a 6-1 friendly win over Hungary just before the tournament started.
"He is coming along well, but he is not yet ready to play for an entire game and it could be another eight days," van Marwijk said.
In their last encounter together, the Dutch beat Japan 3-0 in a friendly in Enschede in September, but the Blue Samurai dominated early on before conceding three goals in the last 20 minutes.
"We did particularly well in the first half. I think what will matter is how we can keep ourselves focused on our defence in the second half," Japanese midfielder Junichi Inamoto said.
"We want to attack the ball hard and we know it will be a tough match," said the 30-year-old veteran of three World Cups, who returned to J-League team Kawasaki Frontale last January after nine years at European clubs including Arsenal and Fulham.