World Cup warm up: Senegal's fast break to jilt Japan dreams
While the draw for Group H of the World Cup always looked like being one of the most competitive in Russia this summer, few would have predicted the standings after gameweek one.
It was Poland and Colombia, after all, that were the two teams with the shortest odds to progress from the group ahead of the tournament, and while the former’s defeat to Senegal wasn’t a huge shock, Japan’s victory over the latter has blown the group wide open.
The Samurai Blue were viewed as the weak link of the four sides after all, and while they were helped significantly by the early dismissal of Colombia’s Carlos Sanchez - the second fastest red card in World Cup history - Akira Nishino’s side still surpassed the expectations of many.
How they will cope if both sides can keep a full compliment of players on the pitch remains to be seen, and the coach is certainly wary of the physicality of Sunday’s opponents. When asked how he would combat the threat of the African side he quipped, “In the last few days, I told my players to grow 5cm and put on 5kg. They couldn’t do it. So instead we will have to try to win by using the ball well.”
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It’s true that Senegal are one of the most powerful sides at the tournament, with pace and height at both ends of the pitch, while Japan are a great deal smaller, relying on their technical ability to break through sides.
Only three of the AFC qualifiers 13 outfield players utilised last Tuesday completed fewer than 84% of their passes, and Senegal were happy to play on the counter against Poland last time out. Indeed, Allow Cisse’s men had just 39% possession and eight shots but they made the most of some poor defending to give themselves a fantastic chance of reaching the last 16.
This game will probably go the same way, with Senegal happy to soak up pressure and break at speed, with M’Baye Niang crucial to that tactic against Poland, scoring the eventual match winner.
While there isn’t much disparity in the odds, bizarrely the former AC Milan man is sixth favourite with most bookmakers to score at any time in Yekaterinburg, and a price of 4.05 with Marathon Bet is considerable to say the least.
