Japan looks for redemption tomorrow against a confident team from Ghana. The Ghana Black Stars have become the first team from the African Nations to qualify for the 2010 World Cup by beating Sudan 2-0 this past weekend. So who prevails? In the Blue corner we have a team who just suffered a 3-0 heartbreaker; motivated by the need to prove themselves and not wanting to return home empty handed after a grueling week. In the Black corner we have a team riding the hangover of success; brimming with confidence and with the hard work of the WCQ out of the way, ready for play time in a meaningless international friendly.
Look for Japan to play a similar tactical game as they did against the Netherlands. A standard 4-4-2 if Tamada gets the start as striker, a 4-2-3-1 if Honda replaces Tamada as he did in the Netherlands clash with Honda filling in as the extra midfielder. Ghana played a 4-4-1-1 formation against Sudan with captain Stephen Appiah playing shadow striker behind Matthew Amoah.
Ghana is an extremely potent team currently ranked #32 on the FIFA World Rankings. In the 2006 World Cup, they were eliminated by Brazil in the Round of 16, but not before defeating both the USA and Czech Republic 2-0. The Black Stars squad showcase members of many European, African, and Asian clubs,
with the most notable being Michael Essein of Chelsea, and Sulley Muntari of Inter. Appiah is currently unaffiliated with any club.Ghana's strengths are exceptional speed and Michael Essien (right). Japan are not without quickness, of course, but if they cannot contain Ghana on counter attacks and wing play, this could be a rout.
Goalkeepers:
Richard Kingson ( Wigan Athletic)
George Owu (Al Masry)
William Amamoo (Vassalund)
Defenders:
John Paintsil (Fulham)
Samuel Inkoom (Basel FC)
Harrison Afful (Asante Kotoko)
John Mensah (Lyon)
Eric Addo (Roda JC)
Isaac Vorsah (Hoffeinham)
Midfielders:
Stephen Appiah (Unattached)
Michael Essien (Chelsea)
Anthony Annan (Rosenborg)
Sulley Muntari (Inter Milan)
Laryea Kingston (Hearts)
Opoku Agyemang (Al Sadd)
Haminu Draman (Russia)
Strikers:
Asamoah Gyan (Rennes)
Matthew Amoah (NAC Breda)
Prince Tagoe (Hoffeinham)
Junior Agogo(Apollon Limassol)
Things to Look For:
Michael Essien - Essien will clearly be the most accomplished and talented player on the pitch. All attacking play for Ghana generally begins with Essien and often ends with it. Look for Japan to mark him closely, and for Essien to take advantage of any defensive slip-ups.
Tulio Tanaka and Yuji Nakazawa versus Matthew Amoah- The two towers for Japan were hit by a catapult in the last half hour against the Dutch. They looked disorganized, out of breath, and just awful. Amoah, a cheetah on the pitch, could give these two a nightmarish day.
Shinji Okazaki (left)- Coming into the Netherlands match, Okazaki sported an impressive 0.5 strike rate for Japan with 7 goals in 14 matches. After the Netherlands match he fell to 7/15 which means that he's due.
My Prediction:
Japan's abysmal display on Saturday was disheartening -hence the depressing tone of this blog. Still, keeping in mind that they were able to hold the World #3 Oranje to a 0-0 draw for 2/3 of the match deserves some credit. I think that Japan gets a lucky one from a set piece, and Ghana grabs one on a speedy counter attack.
Japan 1 - Ghana 1
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