How will Japan do in 2010 World Cup?

[egg_102030]

They were disappointing for me last year. Will they be better next time?

[Tmess2]

My hunch says that they will make it through qualifying and finish third in group.

Of course, a lot depends on how FIFA does the draw. At this point in time, we know that South Africa and Brazil will be seeded teams (they always seed the host and by any system they have used in the past Brazil should be among the top seven teams). My hunch says that the following five teams will be seeded if they qualify: Argentina, Italy, France, Germany, and England. The last seed will depend on the system used. Most likely pot 2 will be composed entirely of European Teams. If the last seed is a European team, that creates the real chance of only having to face one strong team in the group (as there will only be 13 teams from Europe). How the other two pots are configured will depend in large part on the playoff results. A bad draw and Japan finishes fourth. A draw that pairs them with Trinidad & Tobago, South Africa, and Greece could see them through to the knockout rounds.

[fugutastic]

Having lived in Japan over 20 years, they will be hyped up again and suck again. It takes decades to break through as you saw with South Korea or the African nations.

I'd say wait until Japan has been in five World Cup Finals before getting ready for fireworks. That'd be 2018.

[foongwk140804]

JAPAN were sorely disappointed at the last FIFA World Cup but i think they will improve in the next one in 2010, probably reaching the knock-out stage.

[taliwhackers]

They'll do better. They had a tough group in Germany 2006, was unlucky not to beat Croatia, lost it in the last 5 minutes against the Aussies and were leading Brazil for the first half. So they can't do worse. They have good young players, but I worry about the old guard, whom they will need for leadership. I am worried about the progress (or should I say regress) of Junichi Inamoto, he just hasn't panned out as promised and is stuck in a middle-class Bundesliga team,?probably won't play in 2010. Japan seems to have a knack of overextending potential future stars, such as Ono, maybe they expect too much of them too early? I really like Shunsuke Nakamura, but he doesn't play well for Japan. If he can play well for Japan, I like their chances of getting into the 2nd Round in Africa. But it all depends on the draw! ???????????

[taliwhackers]

They'll do better. They had a tough group in Germany 2006, was unlucky not to beat Croatia, lost it in the last 5 minutes against the Aussies and were leading Brazil for the first half. So they can't do worse. They have good young players, but I worry about the old guard, whom they will need for leadership. I am worried about the progress (or should I say regress) of Junichi Inamoto, he just hasn't panned out as promised and is stuck in a middle-class Bundesliga team,?probably won't play in 2010. Japan seems to have a knack of overextending potential future stars, such as Ono, maybe they expect too much of them too early? I really like Shunsuke Nakamura, but he doesn't play well for Japan. If he can play well for Japan, I like their chances of getting into the 2nd Round in Africa. But it all depends on the draw! ???????????

[Manchester Hooligan]

Depending on the group they end up in for 2010, I think they have a good to great chance to advance to the knockout stages.

Shunsuke Nakamura is still a great midfielder, he dominated the Scottish league. Nakata, Takahara, etc are still great players and should still be top caliber in 2010. I think the big question is, can they infuse enough young talent to go with the vets that led them back in 2002.

I think they'll definitely improve over last year's Cup.

[Pepe]

they will be in the finals against mexico, sad to say they will lose