Australia v Japan - Preview

Japan and Australia's must-win dilemma

Asian rivals Australia and Japan square off in their Group F opener Monday with defeat threatening to kill off their World Cup dreams at the first hurdle.

With other matches to come against champions Brazil and former semi-finalists Croatia in an unforgiving group, a loss in Kaiserslautern would probably prove insurmountable in the struggle to reach the knockout second round, so the pressure for a result has weighed heavily on both teams.

Australia, in their first finals for 32 years, have lost four of their last five meetings to the higher-ranked Japanese, who are in their third consecutive finals and are the reigning Asian champions.

But the Australians have been transformed under the meticulous coaching of Dutchman Guus Hiddink, who steered Holland and South Korea to the semi-finals of the last two World Cups.

Japan scored twice early in a spirited 2-2 draw against Germany on May 30 and tuned up with a 1-0 win over Malta last weekend.

The 'Hiddink factor' clearly has the Japanese camp concerned with playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura believing Australia will prove tougher opponents than 1998 semi-finalists Croatia, whom they next play in Nuremberg on June 18.

"I think the Australians are similar to Japan (in style) and perhaps because of that it will make them the most difficult team for us to play against," the Glasgow Celtic midfielder said this week.

Australia believe they have aerial supremacy over the Japanese and influential English-based attackers Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka and Tim Cahill will be playing against them for the first time in Kaiserslautern.

Japan's squad plan to counter their physical disadvantage with tight marking and specific tactics, with their Brazilian coach Zico heard to bark at his players at training this week: "You won't get any taller overnight. So go mark them tight."

Nakamura gave an indication of how Japan will go about it against the Australians when he said: "We have to go forward with two touches in midfield and cut in with a dribble or a one-two pass toward the goal to provoke a foul... then it means a goal for us."

Both camps have had their injury dramas ahead of their showdown with Australian skipper Mark Viduka sitting out training Thursday with a calf muscle complaint and Kewell working his way back to full fitness after injuring a groin in Liverpool's FA Cup Final win last month.

Teams

Australia

Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Craig Moore, Jason Culina, Brett Emerton, Mark Viduka (capt), Harry Kewell, Vince Grella, Scott Chipperfield, Luke Wilkshire, Marco Bresciano: Coach: Guus Hiddink

Japan

Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Yuichi Komano, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (capt), Hidetoshi Nakata, Naohiro Takahara, Shunsuke Nakamura, Atsushi Yanagisawa, Alessandro Santos, Takashi Fukunishi, Keisuke Tsuboi, Yuji Nakazawa: Coach: Zico

Referee

Essam Abdullah el Fatah (EGY)