[tractortrailer]

Are all of my fellow SBR gamblers ready to slam the books for the world cup? I have been reading previews like crazy and am working on perfecting my system for soccer handicapping and wanted to share some of my research knowledge with my fellow board members to help turn the squares into sharps. Preview and advice below:

While Japan plays a great team game and they are a very tactical squad they do not have a lot of world-class talent and their offense is not a dynamic one. Still, they are not in the toughest of groups where they are tied with the 2^nd best odds to win it. They are coming off a win in the Asian Cup and can they get to the last 16 like they did in 2010? It will be more difficult now since long time captain and MF leader Makoto Hasebe is out for the World Cup since he is recovering from multiple knee surgeries.

Group Preview

Japan is in Group C along with Ivory Coast, Colombia, and Greece. They face an offensive minded club in the Ivory Coast in their first match. That one also has even betting odds as Japan is tied with Ivory Coast for the 2^nd best odds to win Group C. They face a tough Greek defense in the 2^nd match and don’t count on that one to be a goal fest. In their group finale they face the group favorite in Colombia, which has a solid attack and the Japanese will have to play great on defense and take advantage of the counter attack chances they get.

BETTING ODDS

Odds to win World Cup: +15000
Odds to win Group: +375
Odds to finish bottom of group: +225

Best World Cup Finish: Group Stage (2006, 2010)

World Cup Match Schedule

14/06/14 Ivory Coast vs. Japan - Arena Pernambuco
19/06/14 Japan vs. Greece - Estadio das Dunas
24/06/14 Japan vs. Colombia - Arena Pantanal

Qualifying

The Japanese did not get off to a good qualifying start, as they lost their first 2 matches, but then regrouped and only lost 1 of their next 8. In their last 8 matches their defense came through with 4 clean sheets and their only blemish in that span was an upset loss to Jordan. They had to play good D since their offense was not great only scoring more than 1 goal in 4 of their 10 qualifying matches. They had a record of 5-3-2 in the group, which was not a tough one and they were expected to advance to Brazil.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The offense is not a dynamic one, but they do have a world-class player in Manchester United’s Shinji Kagawa. He will be counted on to press the attack and Mainz’s Shinji Okazaki and AC Milan’s Keisuke Honda also have to play well in the midfield both on defense and setting up the offense. The squad is not a tall one and they struggled on headers in qualifying and have to match up well and be physical in the box facing taller opponents.

Source

[Christopher1991]

Good stuff!

[picopico101]

Hi I'm Japanese.I have to say Kagawa and Okazaki is good. but Honda is not in good condition.That's a big problem.

[tractortrailer]

Good stuff!

Thank you. Figured its time to give back after all the money I have made lately and with a disciplined system make even more this summer which is typically my off season.