Winners takes all for Japan and Denmark

RUSTENBURG - For Denmark and Japan in Thursday’s Group E clash at the World Cup football, the rewards are clear enough.

The Netherlands have beaten both sides and are already through; Cameroon have lost to both sides and are already out, and so it becomes a straight fight for qualification to the last 16.

With the better goal difference, Japan have the slight advantage and will progress with a draw.

Their coach, Takeshi Okada, must surely be regretting his prediction that Japan would reach the last four, but this tournament has already by far exceeded his last, when Japan exited the 1998 tournament without winning a game.

“To win such a big match, I think in a sense we need something beyond the team’s tactics,” he said. “I really want the players to fight with a solid mentality

“It would be ideal if we can overwhelm the opposition by 10 goals. But it won’t be that easy. I think it’s going to be a very close, fierce match.”

He admitted after the 1-0 defeat to the Netherlands that his side lacked “bite”, and the predictable, unimaginative nature of Japanese football has been a regular criticism since Hidetoshi Nakata retired after the 2006 World Cup.

CSKA Moscow forward Keisuke Honda perhaps offers some hope, but so far Okada has tended to use the 23-year-old as a striker dropping deep, rather than in midfield where he may be able to dictate the play.

That is one issue for him to ponder, but Okada admits his main concern is Denmark’s height advantage over his side, which works out to about eight centimetres per man.

“How to deal with their height in set plays and their long balls will be our main issues,” he said.

“We have to be sure about how to maintain a solid defence against them.”

Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner, who scored his side’s equaliser in the 2-1 win over Cameroon, is desperate for the opportunity to use his 1.93m frame to his side’s advantage.

“It could well be more difficult than against Cameroon,” he said. “We have to win, so they can play very tactically. But we have a few advantages we can use, including our height.”

Bendtner, though, remains a doubt with a groin injury.

Coach Morten Olsen is concerned by the possibility Japan will, for all their coach’s fighting talk, opt for containment.

“It’s difficult these days to score against defensive teams,” he said. “But we know what we have to do.”