their chances of progressing to the next phase already over, japan and mexico are preparing to round off their fıfa confederations cup brazil 2013 campaigns with one main aim in mind: avoiding finishing bottom of group a. fıfa.com previews the action ahead.
the game japan-mexico, estadio mineirao, belo horizonte, saturday 22 june, 16.00 (local time)
the stakes though they eventually went down 4-3 to ıtaly in a memorable encounter last time out, japan’s performance even in defeat was nothing short of sensational. the challenge for the samurai blue is to produce a similar display against mexico, which would confirm their status as a growing global force ahead of their return to brazil for next year’s fıfa world cup™.
the mood appears to be quite different in a mexican camp where, despite el tri’s recent travails in brazil 2014 qualifying, hopes had been high of at least reaching the last four here at brazil 2013. jose manuel de la torre’s charges can take heart from performing better against the hosts than in their opener with ıtaly, but the coach must still find a way to rebuild squad morale and improve results. could a win against the asian champions be the tonic they need to get back on track?
the stat 3 – the number of consecutive victories mexico have racked up against japan, having lost 3-2 in the first meeting between the pair back in 1996. following that defeat, el tri won 2-1 in 1998, 1-0 in 2000 and 2-1 in 2005, with the latter result also coming at the fıfa confederations cup. nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that since that 2005 loss, japan have won their last five games against concacaf nations.
the words “whatever the result against japan, it won’t lose me the support of my players or my bosses [at the mexican fa]. for the sake of our pride, we really want to win this game. we don’t want to bow out without any points, particularly since our aims [for this competition] had been so different,” mexico coach jose manuel de la torre.
"the important thing for us, aside from the results, was to progress as a team. we played against stronger opponents than those we come across normally. from here, the key is to store up a wealth of experience so that we can use everything we have learned a year from now, at the world cup," mike havenaar, japan forward.
mexico came out of their shell in their final fıfa confederations cup match as javier 'chicharito' hernandez bagged a second-half brace of headers to beat japan 2-1, leaving the samurai blue bottom of group a.
shinji okazaki gave japan hope in the final moments with a fine finish, but it wasn’t enough as el tri grabbed the win, with hernandez even missing a late penalty.
with both sides unable to advance to the semi-finals of the fıfa confederations cup, japan and mexico were both eager to leave brazil with a win.
the best chance of the opening period came late on in the half, with a snap header by mexico's andres guardado from eight yards out. eiji kawashima was left stranded, but the post came to japan’s rescue.
chicharito comes alive mexico were the stronger side at the beginning of the second-half, and they were rewarded nine minutes after the restart. 'chicharito' opened the scoring as he headed home guardado’s cross, beating kawashima to the ball.
the manchester united man doubled mexico's advantage six minutes later. giovani dos santos’ corner found mexico's no14 at the far post who made no mistake with a downward header.
the samurai blue came back into the match and continued to press forward. they were given some consolation when okazaki coolly finished yasuhito endo’s cross in the 86th minute.
as japan launched more men forward in the final minutes looking for the equaliser, mexico were awarded a penalty-kick when hernandez was brought down inside the area by substitute atsuto uchida.
mexico's talisman did not complete his hat-trick though, as kawashima made a brilliant diving save, and the mexico striker then smashed the ball off the crossbar from the rebound.
japan managed another attack in mexico's final third, but the second goal did not come for the samurai blue. the victory for mexico may not have been enough to see them through to the next stage of the fıfa confederations cup, but it will surely give them added confidence heading into their final fıfa world cup™ qualifying matches.
mexico: guillermo ochoa (gk), diego reyes, gerardo torrado (c), giovani dos santos (dk. 78 pablo barrera), javier hernandez, hector moreno, jesus zavala, andres guardado (dk. 71 carlos salcido), raul jimenez (dk. 90 javier aquino), jorge torres, hiram mier
yedekler: jose corona (gk), alfredo talavera (gk), francisco rodriguez, jesus molina, angel reyna, aldo de nigris, severo meza, hector herrera, gerardo flores,
teknik direktör: josé manuel de la torre (mex)
goller: 0-1 javier hernandez dk. 54 0-2 javier hernandez dk. 66 1-2 shinji okazaki dk. 86
sarı kartlar: hiroki sakai (jpn) 38, guillermo ochoa (mex) 90+5
uzatma süreleri: second half: 5
dip not: [i] = sakat [a] = yok [n] = oynamaya uygun değil
