Japan are going to Brazil. They are the first side, apart from the hosts, to have sealed their qualification to the premier international football competition. Keisuke’s injury-time penalty against Australia secured Japan’s place at the 2014 World Cup as they drew 1-1 against the Aussies giving them an unassailable seven-point lead in the Asian qualifying group. International football can be quite exciting especially if you decided to bet on games using bwin sports. The odds are great and return is very reliable.
This is the fifth successive time Japan have qualified for the tournament that they hosted in 2002. They will now have a whole year to prepare for the occasion next season. In truth, they will be hoping to perform better than they have in those previous four tournaments.
“Just qualifying is not enough. We will aim even higher in Brazil” said Alberto Zaccheroni. “”I came to bring them to the World Cup – that was my bottom line. I feel relieved that I achieved it. We have a very strong commitment to playing well. We are going to improve further and surprise the world.”
To surprise the world, Japan will have to go beyond the last 16, something they haven’t been able to achieve in the last four tournaments. In 2010 they suffered the pain of a penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay in South Africa and also suffered the pain of the knockout stages when they hosted in 2002 when they lost to Paraguay. In the other two tournaments they could only dream of the last 16, having come bottom of their groups (topped by Brazil in 2006 and Argentina in 1998).
There were nervous moments in the game against Australia, though had Japan not won, they might have managed qualification at a later stage anyway in the group also containing Australia, Jordan, Oman and Iraq. Tommy Oar had taken the lead in this particular fixture, however, making it a anxious 90 minutes for Japan. The last minute has erased this anxiety, however, and now Japan can sit back and relax as the rest of the world scraps for the remaining places in the tournament.
Japan’s hopes of building on their previous disappointments in the tournament will hinge on star play Shinji Kagawa. The Man Utd player showed glimpses of the quality that earned him such plaudits at Dortmund and is expected to be a key player for the English champions next season. It is also hoped that the coming season could be a breakthrough season for Arsenal starlet Ryo Miyaichi, who has so far struggled to shine in loan spells away from the North London club.
With Japan already qualified, the battle for the second automatic qualification spot will continue, though Australia are thought to be the favourites to achieve this. The third-placed team will then go into a play-off against another third placed team in the other Asian qualification group with the winner of that game going into another play-off against the fifth-placed South American team for what is usually the last qualification spot in the tournament.
By William Barns-Graham
Daily Business Feature: Growth in the 21st century will be made through technology and innovation. Payment processors are using new service solutions to solve old problems.