Japan go into their final AFC Asian Cup group game against Indonesia on January 24 with work to do to secure a place in the round of 16.
The Samurai Blue suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of Group D’s Iraq and must avoid defeat to confirm an automatic place in the knockout round.
With Vietnam already out of the competition, this clash is a straight battle to join Iraq in the next stage, with Japan not progressing from the group stage since 1988.
Team news
So far in the AFC Asian Cup, Japan have tweaked their attack between games and are likely to bring Keito Nakamura back into the starting line-up.
Indonesia kept themselves in contention for an automatic place in the round of 16 after a 1-0 win over Vietnam and will not change in this clash.
Japan (4-2-3-1): Suzuki (GK) — Sugawara, Itakura, Taniguchi, Ito — Endo, Morita — Nakamura, Kubo, Minamino — Asano.
Indonesia (5-4-1): Ari (GK) — Mangkualam, Walsh, Amat, Hubner, Arhan — Sayuri, Jenner, Ferdinan, Vikri — Struick.
Leave a comment