Japan and Paraguay aiming to reach their first quarterfinals

Paraguay and Japan will be attempting to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time in their histories when they meet at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on June 29. Paraguay topped Group F with five points after they drew Italy 1-1 in their opener, beat Slovakia 2-0, and then drew 0-0 with New Zealand. Japan finished second in Group E with six points after beating Greece 2-0, losing to Holland 1-0, and then beating Denmark 3-1.

The South American side will be hoping that defender Antolin Alcaraz and midfielder Jonathan Santana will be fit enough for the game as they both missed the match against New Zealand due to injury. Both players were able to train on Saturday so should be ready. Alcaraz scored against Italy and then injured his ankle in the game against Slovakia, while Santana was sidelined with a leg muscle injury.

Paraguay was impressive in their opening 1-1 game against Italy, but as we found out later in the group stage, a draw against the reigning World Cup champions wasn’t really that much of an achievement as New Zealand pulled off the same result and Slovakia beat them. The team has a lot of depth at forward with Oscar Cardozo, Roque Santa Cruz, Lucas Barrios, Edgar Benitez, Nelson Valdez, and Rodolfo Gamarra, but hasn’t been able to score the amount of goals that talent would suggest. Manager Gerardo Martino realizes his side will need more goal production if they’re going to beat Japan, but is satisfied with his team’s defensive play.

Japan’s manager Takeshi Okada said his team relies on teamwork instead of individual talent and that’s what has gotten them this far in the tournament. He added if his team plays as a unit they should be able to break through Paraguay’s tight defence, which only gave up one goal in group play. They certainly looked impressive in the do-or-die final game against Denmark and Okada will be looking for more of the same from his squad. They also held their own against Holland and easily defeated the Greeks in their opener. Midfielder Keisuke Honda led the Japanese attack with two goals and set up a third, while looking dangerous in all three games.

Odds and Predictions

The 45th-ranked Japanese seem to be getting stronger as the tournament goes on while 31st-ranked Paraguay looks to be heading in the other direction with their lack of goals. Japan should be the more confident team heading into the match as they’ve achieved a lot more than most experts predicted. They’re on a high at the moment after their performance in the group stage and the momentum should help them. Japan is a fit team that doesn’t give up running and has enough playmaking and scoring touch in the squad to pull off a 2-1 victory. This results pays 13 times the money at Sportsbook.com

Paraguay and Japan have played each other six times previously with Paraguay winning two and losing one and three games ending in draws.

Expekt.com has the South Americans favoured to win with odds of 6/5, while a victory for Japan is listed at 53/20 and the odds of a draw after 90 minutes are 21/10.

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