Japan  take on Greece at the Estadio Das Dunas (or as it is translated to English “the Stadium of White Dunes”) in Natal this evening  in a clash that both teams absolutely must win in order to have any hope at all of qualifying from their group. Colombia and Ivory Coast currently top this group on three points, with Colombia occupying first position on goal difference. Japan is touted as the underdog for this clash, with a lack of proactivity being cited as the main reason for their opening defeat against the Ivory Coast.

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Greece are renowned for their defending prowess and with Japan the more technically gifted of the two outfits, this may well prove to be another one sided affair for Greece, who already suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat against Colombia in their opening day fixture. Greece have a tendency to invite teams forward, hoping for the chance to counter and Japan will need no second invitation as they try to use their pace to break down a very stubborn Greek pairing of Kostas Manolas and Sokratis Papastathopoulos.

Greece will only be able to sit back for so long, however, with goals needed in abundance if they are to stand any chance of progressing. Greece may  have to break from long-standing tradition and get out of their comfort zone by actually leaving their half and trying to attack. For Japan’s part, even though they are the underdogs here, they will fancy their chances against a Greek side that have lost six of their last seven World Cup games.

They will be looking to Mainz striker Okazaki to put them on the score sheet early, after scoring more for his country than any other Asian striker in qualifying with eight goals. Keisuke Honda of Japan and AC Milan fame has also performed well in qualifying for his country with three goals and one assist. Japan are a quick  team, with bags of technical ability, so they will look to press Greece as high as they can, pressuring the back four with raids down both wings. Greece will likely switch to a back five if this happens, crowding the box before launching swift counters.

Nagatomo and Uchida will be expected to raid the flanks this evening, feeding a technically proficient front four of Kagawa, Honda, Okazaki and Kakitani who will look to move the ball quickly and accurately among the Greek defence. Japan like to press and have extremely quick fullbacks in a 4-2-3-1 system that sees the midfield pairing of Yamaguchi and Makoto Hasebe pulling the strings. With Yoshito Okubo doing extremely well as a substitute against Ivory Coast, Zaccheroni may opt for him up front in place of Osako.

Japanese fans will be keeping an eye on the temperature later today, as in the last game the Blue Samurai completely ran out of steam in the boiling conditions in the Arena Pernambuco in Recife. Greek fans will be hoping for a change in tradition tonight, pinning everything on the Nationals actually getting forward and trying to win.