Latin hurdle for Asian giants
Group F toppers Paraguay will look to add to the Latin flavour that has been ruling the roost in South Africa when they locks horns with Asia’s lone survivors Japan at the Loftus Versfeld Arena in Pretoria on Tuesday, with a first-ever quarterfinal berth the motivating factor for both teams.
Paraguay have been playing attacking football and coach Gerrardo Martino’s 4-3-3 formation has been at the forefront of their success. Strikers Roque Santa Cruz, Lucious Barros and Nelson Valdez have been combining perfectly up front.
Manchester City striker Santa Cruz is hopeful of advancing to the quarterfinals in the third attempt but admits the Japanese will be a tricky opposition.
“With their pace and agility, Japan are a team hard to play against. They have players who can change the direction of a game so we have to come out very focused and keep running throughout the game,” said the striker.
Japan went into the tournament very much the underdogs, and coach Takeshi Okada’s prediction that his wards would reach the semifinals seemed a bit far-fetched considering the nation’s best ever performance was reaching the round of 16 when they co-hosted the event in 2002.
However, the coach’s inspired move to slot playmaker Keisuke Honda upfront has paid dividends as the CSKA Moscow star has been in inspirational form, striking a spectacular 30-yard freekick against Denmark to book their spot in the knockout rounds. The 25-year-old has now set his sights on the last eight and wants to help his team reach the quarters for the first time.
“For me, for the team, the next game is more important because we want to show the Japanese people that nothing is impossible,” he said.
Coach Okada feels the team’s cohesion is the key to their success. My team has a strength that the others don’t have,” he said. “All 23 players are united, as are the staff. We want to show that football is a team sport.”
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