Greece and Japan, both having lost their first game will be looking to bounce back with a victory to keep their almost dashed hopes of moving to the next round alive in the second Group C game of the day. Japan lost to Ivory Coast while Greece told convincingly to Colombia 3-0. Japan will be heading into this game as the clear favorites as the Greek team is a bit shaky in their defense. The quick Japanese attack will look to capitalize on that. There’s a likelihood of some changes to the starting line-ups by the managers after their team’s failure in their first game.
Players to look out for:
Keisuke Honda scored his team’s only goal against Ivory Coast and this time too he will take his team’s goal scoring acumen on his shoulder. AC Milan’s Yuto Nagatomo and Manchester United’s Shinji Kagawa will be expected to put up better performances for the Japanese. Kostas Mitroglou, Fulham’s record signing forward will hope to give his team the advantage. Centre-back pair of Kostas Manolas and Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund’s Sokratis Papasthopoulos will hope to keep the clinical Japanese at bay.
Teams head-to-head:
The two teams have met before once in the Confederations Cup of 2005 in which Japan won the match 1-0.
Probable Line-ups:
Japan (4-2-3-1): Kawashima; Uchida, Yoshida, Morishige, Nagatomo; Hasebe, Yamaguchi; Okazaki, Honda, Kagawa; Osako.
Greece (4-5-1): Karnezis; Maniatis, Manolas, Samaras, Kone; Salpingidis, Torosidis, Gekas, Sokratis, Cholevas; Mitroglou.
Prediction:
Greece has inconsistencies in their defense which will prove to be costly for them. Japan are favorites to win the fixture.
Final Score Prediction: Greece 0 – 2 Japan.
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