World Cup 2014: Japan need Okazaki to fill goalscoring hole

Dubai: Asian champions Japan looked promising going forward at last year’s Fifa Confederations Cup but just lacked a proven goalscorer — hence three defeats and a group stage exit.

While the Samurai Blues have exported plenty of midfield talent in Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda, an out-and-out forward has always been missing.

Renowned for tireless work-rate and technical discipline, they keep possession well and produce great build-up play that just peters out in front of goal. Critics will tell you it’s because of their lack of physique and ingrained selflessness. But this summer they may have an answer to that in Shinji Okazaki. The striker has just beaten Kagawa’s record 13 goals to become the highest scoring Japanese in a single German Bundesliga season this year with 15 for Mainz 05.

Honda and Kagawa will still be the ones to watch in terms of guaranteed creativity in midfield, despite warming benches this season at their respective clubs AC Milan and Manchester United. But Okazaki will really have to come to the fore if Japan are to compete. Otherwise, it’s back to a reliance on Honda’s famous pin-point set-pieces — but that’s only likely to nick them a cheeky 1-0 win at best.

Japan like to play a speedy, possession-based game with the two full-backs Atsuto Uchida and Yuto Nagatomo key. But, if they get too far up the flanks, there remains real concern for the exposed centre-back partnership of Maya Yoshida and Masato Morishige.

The same perceived lack of physical strength missing in their strikers is also present in the back line, where there is also a real lack of quality.

And if Japan meets a side with the same kind of brutish attacker they so desperately need, it could get messy.

While Japan’s attributes are plenty, they must find an added oomph if they are to surpass their previous best round of 16 finish.

Group C
Fifa ranking: 47

Eiji Kawashima; Yuto Nagatomo, Maya Yoshida, Masato Morishige, Atsuto Uchida; Shinji Kagawa, Makoto Hasebe, Yasuhito Endo, Hiroshi Kiyotake; Keisuke Honda; Shinji Okazaki

Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Standard Liege/BEL), Shusaku Nishikawa (Urawa Reds), Shuichi Gonda (FC Tokyo)

Defenders: Yasuyuki Konno (Gamba Osaka), Masahiko Inoha (Jubilo Iwata), Yuto Nagatomo (Inter/ITA), Masato Morishige (FC Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (Schalke 04/GER), Maya Yoshida (Southampton/ENG), Hiroki Sakai (Hannover 96/GER), Gotoku Sakai (VfB Stuttgart/GER)

Midfielders: Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Makoto Hasebe (Nuremberg/GER), Toshihiro Aoyama (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka), Keisuke Honda (AC Milan/ITA), Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United/ENG)

Forwards: Yoshito Okubo (Kawasaki Frontale), Shinji Okazaki (FSV Mainz/GER), Hiroshi Kiyotake (Nuremberg/GER), Yoichiro Kakitani (Cerezo Osaka), Manabu Saito (Yokohama F-Marinos), Yuya Osako (Munich 1860/GER)

Colombia
Greece
Ivory Coast

Seeded into the third round of AFC qualification and finished second in their group, six points behind Uzbekistan. They topped their fourth round group to qualify, four points clear of Australia.

First tournament: 1998 (France)
Appearances: (before 2014): 4
Best finish: Round of 16 (2002, 10)