Football. ua presents the announcement of the match of the 1/8 finals of the 2018 World Cup.
The national team of Belgium in the first two matches of the tournament showed a very high-quality game, but its rivals were not the strongest - Tunisia and Panama. On the third round match against England, the team of Roberto Martinez came out almost in reserve, and also managed to win the representatives of Great Britain thanks to the beautiful goal of Adnan Januzai. The Belgians are among the favorites of the tournament, and the failure of the Japanese will be considered a failure.
The exit of Japan in the 1/8 finals turned out to be very ambiguous. In the first round, they beat Colombia, which from the third minute played in the minority. In the second they managed to escape from defeat in the match against Senegal, and in the final match of the group stage against the already departed Poles not only lost the minimum, but also kept the whole end of the meeting holding the ball, realizing that if they lose 0: 1 pass to the next stage of the competition. This behavior of players and coaching staff did not like not only the fans around the world, but also the Japanese themselves.
Roberto Martinez, most likely, will be able to count in a match against the Japanese on Romel Lukaku and Eden Azar, who missed the match with England due to minor damage. Back on the field and Mertens, Alderweideld, De Bruine and Vertonghen. The last two, by the way, the threat of disqualification for another yellow card, as in Meunier, Thielemans and Dendonker. The Japanese have 4 players risking the quarterfinals if they get through: Kawashima, Hasebe, Inui and Makino.
Approximate compositions:.
Belgium: Courtois - Alderweidereld, Boyat, Vertonghen - Meunier, De Bruijn, Witsel, Carrasco - Azar, Mertens - Lukaku.
Japan: Kawashima-Sakai, Shoji, Yoshida, Nagatomo-Khaseb, Sibasaki-Haraguchi, Kagawa, Inui-Osaka Interesting facts:.
- Belgium only once in five games defeated Japan.
- The Belgians scored more goals in the group stage.
- Belgium has never left its net dry in the World Cup playoff matches (8 defeats, 1 draw, 2 wins).
- Japan twice was in the 1/8 finals, but both times lost.
- In two games, 1/8 with Japan, only one goal was scored (0: 1 with Turkey in 2002, 0: 0 with Paraguay in 2010).
- Japan only twice won the European team at the World Cup (9 matches).
4: 1 forecast.