29 Jun 2010(Tue)

(This article originally appeared on the Football Japan Minutecast. Listen to the audio version here, or subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here.)

 

After securing their first ever wins and qualification from the group stage in a World Cup held away from home soil, the Japanese national team will now seek to go one better when they face Paraguay in Pretoria tomorrow afternoon for a place in the quarter-finals.

 

Confidence is soaring both inside and outside the camp after last Thursday’s convincing 3-1 victory over Denmark sealed second spot in Group E. Takeshi Okada’s ‘best four’ target – which became a major source for mockery among both pundits and supporters as Japan suffered a run of successive losses in the lead-up to the tournament – is suddenly being spoken about in serious terms again, but the manager himself has insisted that this next step will be the most significant.

 

“The hurdle of reaching the last eight has always been in the back of my mind since our opening game,” said Okada yesterday. “Right now, we are concentrating solely on beating Paraguay.”

 

This is a hurdle that Japan have tried and failed to overcome once before, leading some domestic observers to recall the mistakes of the co-hosted World Cup in 2002. Then, Philippe Troussier’s side surrendered meekly during their second round game in Miyagi against Turkey, who went on to beat Senegal in the last eight before losing narrowly to eventual champions Brazil in the semi-finals. Many still see this as a missed opportunity caused by premature satisfaction at simply qualifying from the group stage, and in this respect, popular opinion is beginning to accept that there may have been some logic behind Okada’s lofty aspirations after all.

 

Both current captain Makoto Hasebe and predecessor Yuji Nakazawa have declared that the players do indeed have the hunger to keep on progressing this time around, while Okada and left-back Yuto Nagatomo have also spoken about their desire to fly the flag for Asia after South Korea’s 2-1 defeat to Uruguay on Saturday left Japan as the competition’s only remaining AFC representatives. History would not appear to be on the side of the Samurai Blue, however, as South American teams have won eight of the previous ten encounters between the two continents at World Cups, with solitary group stage draws for North Korea against Chile in 1966 and South Korea against Bolivia in 1994.

 

That said, victory for Paraguay at the Loftus Versfield Stadium would also represent their first ever victory in the knockout stages of a World Cup after falling at the last 16 on three previous occasions. Despite finishing top of a group containing reigning world champions Italy, La Albirroja looked out of sorts in their goalless draw with New Zealand last week and will have to do without defensive midfielder Victor Cáceres through suspension. Coach Gerardo Martino also has to decide whether or not to include defender Antolín Alcaraz and midfielder Jonathan Santana – both of whom returned to training on Saturday after missing the final group game through injury – as Paraguay look for a way of nullifying the Japanese danger at set pieces.

 

“Obviously from what we saw the other day,” said Martino, “we need to try not to concede fouls near the area. When Japan find space they get men forward into attack and this is the most important issue to be careful about.”

 

Japan look certain to keep with the same starting eleven for the fourth game in a row after Marcus Tulio Tanaka announced that he has recovered from a knock picked up against Denmark. The Nagoya Grampus stopper has backed the likes of Keisuke Honda to maintain the side’s prowess at free-kicks, stating “Every goal is so much more precious now in this knockout stage and it is important we try to get our noses in front first. One thing we will have to try and do is vary our set-pieces to surprise the Paraguayans.”

 

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In six previous games between the two countries, Paraguay hold the upper hand with two victories to Japan’s one – including a 4-0 romp in their only competitive meeting at the 1999 Copa America – but Japan are unbeaten in three friendlies played so far this century. The second round match kicks off in Pretoria at 4pm local time (11pm Japanese time), with the winners set to play either Spain or Portugal in the last eight.