Japanese team.

(AFP)

Match time 12/05 23:00 [Top 16 match E1vsF2] Japan vs Croatia

It may not be surprising that Croatia qualified in Group F. The surprise was Belgium, which was eliminated. What is even more surprising is that the opponent in Group E was first, and it turned out to be the Japanese team.

Croatia's historical record against Japan in the past was 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss. In the two World Cup matches, the Plaid Army led by 1 win, 1 draw, but the most recent match was in the 2006 World Cup, so the lineup is completely different , the record is for reference only.

However, Japan and Croatia have no record of playing against Eastern European or Asian teams in the past year, and there are extremely limited games for reference.

Please read on...

In terms of group stage performance, Croatia only conceded 1 goal in 3 games, Dejan Lovren, Josko Gvardiol, Borna Sosa, Josip Juranovic )’s 4-back formation is very stable; what is more worrying is the offense. Except for Canada’s 4 goals against the unsatisfactory defense, the other two games can only draw 0:0. Modric (Luka The midfield led by Modric is full of dominance, but there is no doubt about whether Andrej Kramaric and Ivan Perisic can convert the midfield supply and losses into goals.

Japan, which defeated Germany and Spain in the group stage, faces Croatia, which is slightly weaker in ball control but stronger in body, and may repeat the same tricks in this battle, with the same 3-4-3 (5-4 -1), first focus on steady defense, Yoshida Maya, Itakura Akira, Taniguchi Shogo form 3 central defenders, Nagatomo Yuto, Ito Junya serve as wide midfielders, and then depending on the situation of the battle, Sansa Kaoru, Doan Ritsu and other offensive trump cards will be used Turn it up and zoom in.

Considering the tactics of the two sides in the group stage, Japan usually does not take the initiative to attack first, while Croatia takes the initiative, but the scoring ability is slightly insufficient. In addition, this game is a knockout match, and the mentality of each team must be "don't lose first." (Unless the strength is much higher than that of the opponent, they will take the initiative to attack), so it is inevitable to be conservative. Therefore, if the whole game is pushed for small points and draws, the first half is likely to be a 0:0 stalemate.

(Special author: Zheng Xianmeng)

Croatia team.

(Reuters)

related news