Japan Face Tough Group

Japan Face Tough Group in South Africa

Jason Coskrey

The 2010 World Cup, marks Japan's third appearance in the event with the Blue Samurai again rubbing shoulders with the world's best.

While the draw certainly could have been kinder, Japan avoided being grouped with heavyweights such as Brazil and Spain among others.

Although avoiding the global powers gave way to a group including one of Europe's top teams and a strong African side that will be bolstered by playing in the first World Cup to be held in Africa.

National team manager Takeshi Okada has set the bar high for the Blue Samurai, stating he's set his sights on a top-four finish next summer. A lofty ambition considering the quality of Japan's fellow Group E members.

Group E consists of:

Cameroon

The Indomitable Lions are back in the World Cup following an eight-year absence and are playing on home soil. Cameroon is Japan's first opponent.

Cameroon had a bumpy ride through qualifying but survived the sacking of manager Otto Pfister to reach South Africa.

The team went 5-1-0 through the first two rounds of qualifying and saw a quick reversal of fortune in the third round, the Lions opened 0-1-1.

Paul Le Guen took over after the disappointing start to the third round and oversaw righting of the ship as the squad cruised from that point on.

Striker Samuel Eto'o is the main attraction on the squad and carried his country into the World Cup on the strength of nine goals during the qualifying stages.

Eto'o is one of the world's most dangerous strikers and is deadly with a mixture of pace, athleticism and accuracy. His career got off to a slow start but Eto'o's talent soon landed him at the Nou Camp in the service of Spanish power Barcelona.

He made himself a legend with Barca, becoming one of the club's top ten scorers of all-time and playing a vital role in 2009, when the Catalan giants secured the first treble for any Spanish side. He has since moved on to Inter Milan.

Eto'o's scoring prowess spearheaded a Cameroon attack that amassed 23 goals during the qualifying stages. They backed that up with solid play on defense, giving up four goals during that period.

Eto'o poses as big a threat as any player in the tournament and Cameroon's fortunes rest at his talented feet.

Denmark

The Danes surpassed many expectations by breezing through a stacked qualifying group that included Sweden and Portugal.

Denmark has participated in just three World Cups (1986, 1998, 2002) but have advanced into the second round in each instance.

Striker Soren Larsen led the Danes with five goals in the qualifying round but there is strength abound in manager Morten Olsen's squad. Premier League player Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal) and Christian Poulson are two of the key members on a squad that will yearn for big performances from Jon Dahl Tomasson and Denis Rommedahl if they hope to advance in South Africa.

Denmark conceded just five goals during qualifying and has a strong defense led by Lars Jacobsen, Simon Kjaer and goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen. The Danish 'keeper came up big during the qualifiers, recording five clean sheets in his seven starts.

The newfound strength of the Danish domestic league help the team overcome a number of injuries during qualifying and that quality should also be in display in South Africa.

The Netherlands

The Dutch will likely provide Japan with their biggest test during the group stage. The Netherlands are a strong side with aspirations of winning their first world title.

Guided by manager Bert van Marwijk the Dutch ran into few problems during qualifying, easily becoming the first European squad to punch a ticket for South Africa.

Dirk Kuyt, who plays for Liverpool in the Premier League, and Klass-Jan Huntelaar led the team with three goals apiece during the qualifying stages.

The Netherlands feature a world-class striker in Arsenal's Robin Van Persie, who possesses the skill to change the pace of a match and is unafraid to undertake risky and runs at goal.

Van Persie suffered ankle ligament damage during a friendly match against Italy in November of 2009 and has only recently returned to action. His return from injury should prove essential to the team's chances of winning the world title.

Also not to be overlooked up front is AC Milan's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. While not the pacesetter Van Persie is, Huntelaar has a nose for the back of the net and is superb in the air.

A world-class scorer, Huntelaar has 15 goals in 30 appearances with the national team.

There's no lack of talent in midfield either with Kuyt, Arjen Robben, Ryan Babel and Wesley Sneijder all likely to be in the squad.

The Dutch put their strength on display against Japan with a 3-0 victory over Japan in a friendly in September of 2009. The Netherlands then drew even with Australia and Italy before topping the United States 2-1 on March 3, 2010.

Japan's first three games of the World Cup are against Cameroon, the Netherlands and Denmark.

Copyright: Jason Coskrey & Soccerphile.com

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