Japan 2-0 Australia
I think nobody, not even the shrewdest football betting vet out there, expected this Japan-Australia match to be so lopsided.
The Samurai Blue were slightly favoured by betting websites due to their impressive form in front of their home crowd. Australia were also vulnerable due to their worrying trend of drawing away games. A loss seemed inevitable for the Socceroos if they kept it up.
However, Asian Handicap betting odds saw this match as a close affair and kept Japan’s handicap to a minimum. Ange Postecoglou’s XI was also fielded in a 3-4-3 formation, with Bradley Smith and Matthew Leckie occasionally dropping down to help on the defence.
Both sides also had a crack at their opponents’ defence. Tom Rogic had several attempts on goal but didn’t really bother Eiji Kawashima. Takashi Inui and Takuma Asano were pesky for the Australian defence with their speedy attacks.
It looked destined to be a goalless draw until late in the first half. Asano caught Brad Smith relaxing on defence and got free to receive a Yuto Nagatomo cross for an easy first goal. The Arsenal man made his trademark jaguar celebration for the Saitama crowd.
The second half was more of the same: a painful struggle for the Australians only to see the Japanese score the winner late in the game. This time around, it was Genki Haraguchi who crossed it in for Yuto Ideguchi to score.
Tim Cahill was injected on the 70th minute, marking his 101st appearance for the Socceroos. However, his 20 minutes in the pitch did little to change the flow of the game. What’s more worrying for the Australians was that players such as Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa were left out of the match. Leicester’s Shinji Okazaki was only brought in during the game’s dying minutes.
This game is an outstanding victory for Vahid Halilhodzic and the Japanese FA, as this win secures their ticket to Russia. Meanwhile, Australia need to beat Thailand and chase Saudi Arabia for the last automatic qualification slot.
Today’s a good day to be a Samurai Blue fan.
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