The Netherlands face Japan today with both teams in a position to battle for top spot in Group E, a position that would see them potentially avoid Italy in the second round.
The Dutch beat Denmark 2-0 in their first game, while the Japanese shocked Cameroon 1-0 for their first ever World Cup victory on foreign soil.
Dutch coach Bert Van Marwijk said the familiarity with Denmark’s game made for a no-mistakes contest on Monday, but he was expectinAg a different challenge against the Japanese.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“Now the players are more relaxed and less nervous after their opening game, I expect a better performance against Japan,” he said. “The opening game in a tournament is always difficult, and while our first-half performance was not up to our standard, we should have worked things out better over this week in training.”
The Oranje, two-time beaten World Cup finalists in 1974 and 1978, will likely be without star Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben, who has failed to recover from a left hamstring injury sustained in a 6-1 friendly win over Hungary just before the tournament started.
“He is coming along well, but he is not yet ready to play for an entire game and it could be another eight days,” van Marwijk said. “I have to talk with our medical staff about Arjen, but I wouldn’t expect him to be at his top until next week.”
In their last encounter together, the Dutch beat Japan 3-0 in a friendly in Enschede in September last year, but the Blue Samurai dominated early on before conceding three goals in the last 20 minutes.
That result has not prevented Japanese coach Takeshi Okada, who prior to the finals said he wanted the Japanese to reach the last four, from saying that despite all the Dutch players posing a danger, it was pointless going for a draw.
“My players are highly motivated now and they are raring to go,” Okada said. “I’m half idealist and half realist. I will take many things into consideration and aim to win.”
“There will be a chance for us to win,” midfielder Junichi Inamoto said, adding that the win over Cameroon had bucked an unwanted losing trend to Serbia, South Korea, England and Ivory Coast in warm-ups, with only one goal scored. “I realize very much that the team’s momentum, unity and confidence have been lifted after we won the game, no matter how, after four defeats.”
Okada is widely expected to use the same first team against the Dutch, with former Real Mallorca striker Yoshito Okubo and Grenoble midfielder Daisuke Matsui in support.
The winner of the match has a good chance to go on to top Group E, meaning their round-of-16 game will be against the runners-up in Group F, which comprises Italy, Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
Taiwan suffered its first defeat of the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12, losing to defending champion Japan 3-1 at the Taipei Dome last night. Japan’s victory put Taiwan’s score at two wins and one loss in WBSC Premier12 championship Group B play. In the top of the first inning, a sacrifice fly from Japanese batter Shota Morishita allowed Masayuki Kuwahara to score a run on Taiwan’s starter Chen Po-ching (陳柏清). Taiwan’s attempt to catch up in the bottom of the first ended to no avail and an uneventful second inning saw the score
A debate over the soul of soccer is raging in FIFA World Cup holders Argentina, pitting defenders of the social role of the beautiful game against the government of libertarian Argentine President Javier Milei, who wants to turn clubs into for-profit companies. Argentina, which gave the world Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, is home to some of the world’s most devoted soccer fans — a fact attributed by supporters like Gabriel Nicosia to the clubs’ community outreach. Nicosia is a lifelong supporter of San Lorenzo, a more than 100-year-old first division club based in the working-class Buenos Aires neighborhood of Boedo where
SIXTY IN VAIN: In California, De’Aaron Fox contributed a record in points, but it was not enough as his Kings lost 130-126 in overtime to the Timberwolves in the NBA Cup The floor and ball both looked different at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday, but not the Cavaliers, who remained unchanged and kept their perfect start to the NBA season unblemished. They improved to 14-0 with a 144-126 win over the Chicago Bulls in their NBA Cup opener, which served as another showcase for a Cavs team clicking like never before. After the final buzzer, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen celebrated more history by dancing on the court with a giant green frog, who has quickly become an impromptu mascot to an unscripted start. “It’s Cleveland,” Allen said,
RSS