Japan, one of the biggest favorites to win, is using various scenarios to advance to the round of 16. One of them is to lose Game 3 and enter the tournament as third place in the group.
Japan, led by head coach Moriyasu Hajime, will play its third Group D match against Indonesia under head coach Shin Tae-yong at 8:30 p.m. on the 24th (Korea time) at Altumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
Currently, Japan ranks second in the group with one win and one loss (three points). For now, Japan lost to Iraq, the lead team in the group, and it cannot grab the top spot. In this tournament, if the points are tied, the winning team takes the principle as the top priority. The remaining team is to advance to the round of 16 teams as the second or third in the group. Japan is competing with Indonesia (1 win, one loss, three points). Vietnam (2 losses), which ranks fourth, has been eliminated.
They say the ball is round, but it is true that Japan is the most likely winner of Game 3. Japan is no match for the players even in terms of team name, and a simple FIFA ranking shows that Japan is 17th and Indonesia is 146th. Japan is dominant with a gap of nearly 10 times.
If the team wins or ties with Indonesia in the third round match, it will rank second in its group. As long as it does not lose, it will be fine. In psychological terms, Japan also has an advantage.
However, Japan does not necessarily insist on ranking second in its group. “Although the possibility is slim, if Japan passes the group as third place, it will feel less burdened than the second place,” Japan’s Kekisaka said. “Japan is trying to pass the group as second place in order to recover from its loss to Iraq. It is all the more so considering the match against Indonesia and the FIFA ranking. However, considering the schedule of the final, it is advantageous to pass the group as third place.”
If Japan advances to the round of 16 as the second-ranked team in the group, it will have to take a break for two to three days from the rest of the schedule excluding the round of 16. Japan also has two “enforced march schedules” with two days of rest from the quarterfinals to the final. “The Japanese national team can only focus on recovery without tactical training in matches to avoid injury,” media pointed out. On the contrary, if Japan advances to the tournament as the third-ranked team in the group, it can take three to four days off to play in the tournament. As Japan is poised to win the championship, the team is seeking to see Japan for a long time.
If Korea ranks third in the group, it will also avoid a round of 16 match between Korea and Japan. The second-ranked in Group D will meet the first-ranked in Group E. Korea’s national soccer team led by Jürgen Klinsmann, dubbed “Dashorse” Jordan, is in the race to rank No. 1 in Group E. If Korea tops Group E, the Korea-Japan match will take place in the round of 16. One of the two teams that is expected to win the title will have to be eliminated. It is burdensome for Korea as well as Japan to meet Japan in the round of 16.
For this reason, Japan seems to want to advance to the third place in its group as well. Of course, if the team drops to the third place in its group, it will experience shock elimination. China, the second-ranked in Group A, had only two draws and one loss (two points), confirming its elimination. The probability has decreased. Still, there is no reason that the team will not be disgraced. The team must consider the situation in other groups.
Japan has been completely entangled since the second Iraq match. As the Korean team is in a crisis, it is doing its best 헤라카지노.