IVORY COAST vs. JAPAN
Date: June 14, 2014
Time: 9:00 p.m. EDT
Venue: Arena Pernambuco, Recife
Overall Head-to-Head Record (W-L-T): 2-1-0 Japan
Last Match: 2010 Friendly. Ivory Coast def. Japan 2-0.
Line: Ivory Coast +155
Group C Preview here.
Starting Lineups posted separately once they're announced.
Team Profiles
World Ranking: Ivory Coast (23rd), Japan (46th)
Managers: Sabri Lamouchi (CIV), Alberto Zaccheroni (JPN)
Captains: Didier Drogba (CIV), Makoto Hasebe (JPN)
World Cup Appearances: 3 (CIV), 5 (JPN)
Best Finish: Ivory Coast (Group State, Last in 2010), Japan (Round of 16, Last in 2010)
Qualifying Records: Ivory Coast (5-0-3, GF: 19, GA: 7), Japan (8-3-3, GF: 30, GA: 8)
Pre-Tournament Game Results
Ivory Coast
June 4th - Ivory Coast def. El Salvador 2-1
Japan
June 2nd - Japan def. Costa Rica 3-1
June 6th - Japan def. Zambia 4-3
Rosters
Injuries/Discipline
Ivory Coast:N/A
Japan:N/A
Overview
It's a 10 p.m. local time start in Recife on the busiest day of the World Cup. 4 matches are played today all consecutively.
Another Group C match and as will be the theme for that Group, it's another battle between 2 very different styles of play. Japan are one of the smallest teams in Brazil, but bring a quick fluid passing game to the table that allowed them to breeze through qualifying. They're up against an Ivory Coast team with size and strength all over the field and some phenomenal individual talents.
Of all the games today, this one has the most potential for fireworks. These 2 teams have combined to play 29 matches in the past 12 months. They've also combined to allow over 1.5 goals against over that timeframe. While they get things done in very different manners, these are 2 high-powered offensive units without the defences to match.
Japan will employ a 4-2-3-1 formation and rely on quick passes and off-ball movement from their front 6 to be successful. They have a lot of speed and play-making on the field and should run circles around one of the oldest teams in the tournament.
Loaded with star players from the major European leagues, Ivory Coast have been a model of success in the past decade for Africa. Doomed by horrendous group draws in their 2006 and 2010 appearances, Ivory Coast finally have a favourable one but an aging team. Ivory Coast can't run with Japan, so expect them to play as physical a game as possible and wear down the Japanese squad.
It's a game full of star power on both sides. Keisuke Honda anchors Japan's attack and is one of the top attacking midfielders in the game. He is flanked by Shinji Kagawa who has underachieved since a high-profile move to Manchester United. Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure lead Ivory Coast and both could be considered the best African player of the past decade.
Personnel
In the Ivorian Third: It's an aging Ivorian defence that struggles with speed and quick ball movement. This is not the opener they wanted as a result. Way too much play-making on the Japanese side for this back line to handle. Advantage: Japan
In the Midfield: Will depend greatly on whether or not Ivory Coast is able to impose their size effectively. It's a very imposing middle of the field for the Ivory Coast and if they clamp down on Japan then they should be able to dictate the play. That's if they can catch them of course. Advantage: Even
In the Japanese Third: Japan isn't much better then Ivory Coast is in this part of the game. More organized and youthful but Ivory Coast is loaded with individual talent up front and their size brings an aerial threat to the match Japan can't handle. Look for lots of Ivorian balls in the air in the penalty area that cause problems for Japan. Advantage: Ivory Coast
Goalkeeping: Barry and Kawashima both bring a wealth of experience, playing time and are similar size and style of goalkeeping. Kawashima may have more to handle with the aerial threat but I'll chalk that to the defence. Advantage: Even
Of all the games today, this one has the most potential for fireworks. These 2 teams have combined to play 29 matches in the past 12 months. They've also combined to allow over 1.5 goals against over that timeframe. While they get things done in very different manners, these are 2 high-powered offensive units without the defences to match.
Japan will employ a 4-2-3-1 formation and rely on quick passes and off-ball movement from their front 6 to be successful. They have a lot of speed and play-making on the field and should run circles around one of the oldest teams in the tournament.
Loaded with star players from the major European leagues, Ivory Coast have been a model of success in the past decade for Africa. Doomed by horrendous group draws in their 2006 and 2010 appearances, Ivory Coast finally have a favourable one but an aging team. Ivory Coast can't run with Japan, so expect them to play as physical a game as possible and wear down the Japanese squad.
It's a game full of star power on both sides. Keisuke Honda anchors Japan's attack and is one of the top attacking midfielders in the game. He is flanked by Shinji Kagawa who has underachieved since a high-profile move to Manchester United. Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure lead Ivory Coast and both could be considered the best African player of the past decade.
Personnel
In the Ivorian Third: It's an aging Ivorian defence that struggles with speed and quick ball movement. This is not the opener they wanted as a result. Way too much play-making on the Japanese side for this back line to handle. Advantage: Japan
In the Midfield: Will depend greatly on whether or not Ivory Coast is able to impose their size effectively. It's a very imposing middle of the field for the Ivory Coast and if they clamp down on Japan then they should be able to dictate the play. That's if they can catch them of course. Advantage: Even
In the Japanese Third: Japan isn't much better then Ivory Coast is in this part of the game. More organized and youthful but Ivory Coast is loaded with individual talent up front and their size brings an aerial threat to the match Japan can't handle. Look for lots of Ivorian balls in the air in the penalty area that cause problems for Japan. Advantage: Ivory Coast
Goalkeeping: Barry and Kawashima both bring a wealth of experience, playing time and are similar size and style of goalkeeping. Kawashima may have more to handle with the aerial threat but I'll chalk that to the defence. Advantage: Even
Ivory Coast will win if:
They can wear down Japan and slow the game down to a comfortable pace. This is an old team relatively speaking and they can't run the way they used to. If they try to sprint with the Japanese it will only end poorly for them. Dictate possession, use their size and play physical with Japan and they should be victorious.
Japan will win if:
They can find a way to deal with the presence of Drogba, Toure and Gervinho in their own penalty area. Their speed and passing will give them plenty of chances of their own but it's yet to be seen how they will deal with balls in the air near their goal. If they can get a handle on assignments and shut down those chances, Japan will come out victorious.
Prediction
Excitement to say the least. Game should be pretty wide open with plenty of opportunities up and down the field and lots of shots towards goal. May simply be a case of the last goal wins in this one but I'll go with the draw. A weird game where very little separates 2 vastly different teams.
Ivory Coast 2-2 Japan
Excitement to say the least. Game should be pretty wide open with plenty of opportunities up and down the field and lots of shots towards goal. May simply be a case of the last goal wins in this one but I'll go with the draw. A weird game where very little separates 2 vastly different teams.
Ivory Coast 2-2 Japan
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