Wounded Germany braced for Japan World Cup test
The national coaches of Germany and Japan have stated their
intention to lift the World Cup on July 9 and both Jurgen Klinsmann and Zico have a chance to assess their team’s progress on Tuesday when they face off in a friendly match at the BayArena.
Host nation Germany crushed lowly Luxembourg 7-0 on Saturday, but manager Klinsmann acknowledges Asian champions Japan will be a tougher nut to crack.
“It will be a different team against Japan and a much bigger ask of our players,” Klinsmann said at a press conference Monday.
“Japan will not give us much space and close the ball down quickly. They are a different calibre to Luxembourg.
“Results in these matches are not that important but we would like to win to boost confidence before the opening game against Costa Rica.”
Germany open the World Cup against Costa Rica on June 9 in Munich before taking on Poland and Ecuador in Group A.
Klinsmann has so far been unable to field his strongest team and cannot do so against Japan with captain and star player Michael Ballack doubtful with an ankle injury.
“We need to wait and see what Michael and the doctors think about the situation,” Klinsmann said. “But we will not take a risk whatever the report.”
Chelsea defender Robert Huth is also struggling with an ankle injury while first-choice left back Philipp Lahm is still recovering following an elbow operation.
Japan, quarter-finalists at the 2002 World Cup, will hope to exploit that and their Brazilian coach Zico wants a morale-boosting victory.
“We have come to Germany to win,” explained Zico. “This is a hard test for us. But at least we will know where we are at after the game.”
Japan, the first team to qualify for the finals, have a tough World Cup group with Croatia, Australia and holders Brazil, for whom Zico scored 52 goals in 72 internationals.
The Japan team landed at Frankfurt airport on Friday before settling in at their World Cup training base in Bonn and defender Tsuneyasu Miyamoto fears jetlag.
“The most important thing we need to do is get over the jetlag,” said Miyamoto. “If we can do that we can give Germany a tough game.”
It will be a special game for Japan striker Naohiro Takahara who plays his football in Germany with SV Hamburg, although he has agreed to join Eintracht Frankfurt for next season.
“We have had a good preparation and now we are ready for the World Cup,” explained Takahara. “We are very confident ahead of this match.”
Takahara and his fellow strikers failed to score in their last warm-up match against Scotland, who failed to qualify for the finals, with a 0-0 draw on May 13.
Japan have a final friendly match against minnows Malta, ranked outside the top 100 teams in the world, in Dusseldorf on Sunday before the opening World Cup match against Australia in Kaiserslautern on June 12.
Source:Soccer News
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