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Japan and Croatia meet at 16:00 CET at Al Janoub Stadium in the final round of 16 at the Qatar Word Cup on Monday. The tie will mark the sides’ third meeting in an international game and the winner will face the side that emerges victorious from Brasil v South Korea.

Japan won a friendly tie 4-3 against their European opponents back in 1997 but have failed to score or win in either of the sides’ last two meetings, drawing 0-0 with Croatia in 2006 and enduring a 1-0 loss to the Croats in 1998 in group stage games.

Japan team news: Will Moriyasu stick with a 3-4-3?

Contents

1 Japan team news: Will Moriyasu stick with a 3-4-3?
2 Croatia team news: Will the veterans remain unchanged from the group stage?
3 Japan v Croatia: Our Predicted Lineups

Nevertheless, the Japanese will be heartened by their group surprise win, after beating Spain, Germany and Costa Rica to top spot in group E with six points. The Blue Samurai’s opened their campaign in Qatar with a 2-1 victory over Germany but went on to fall to a shock 1-0 defeat to Costa Rica. A 2-1 win over Spain for Hajime Moriyasu’s men saw them secure first place in the group.

Moriyasu opted to play a 4-2-3-1-like formation in Japan’s opening two games but modified it to a 3-4-3 lineup in the side’s must-win game over Spain. The manager could well stick with that formation against tournament veterans Croatia.

The Japanese squad boasts several players that play at a high level in Europe as well as some domestic players too, so perhaps it should not be such a surprise that they have done so well.

SC Freiburg striker Ritsu Doan has got two of the team’s four goals so far (both openers), despite having only scored twice this season for his club. Bochum’s Takuma Fortuna Dusseldorf’s Asano entered the field to get Japan’s 89th minute winner over Germany two weeks ago while Ao Tanaka netted in the 51st minute to see Japan past Spain.

Central to the Asian side’s success has been their defensive capabilities. Maya Yoshida and Kou Itakura have been solid when they need to be as the center- back pairing although the latter will not be available tomorrow due to a two yellow-card suspension. Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu could come into the mix instead if he recovers from an injury.

Croatia team news: Will the veterans remain unchanged from the group stage?

2018 World Cup finalists Croatia are unbeaten in Qatar and finished second in Group F to Morocco after they finished with two draws and a win. The veteran side have that they still have a lot to give as they produced some big results to get this far.

The European nation opened their tournament with a 0-0 draw with the surprisingly good Morocco. A 4-1 win over Canada followed before another 0-0 draw, this time with Belgium, was enough to see them into second spot and the last 16.

The likes of Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic give the side real class as well as experience, which has proven vital so far. Goals may be a problem when they come up against better sides however, as they only managed to score, albeit four times, against Canada.

Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramaric netted twice against the North American nation and goals from Hadjuk Split’s Marko Livaja and Rennes’ Lovro Majer followed. Japan will likely pose a bigger threat to the side although with the class the Croats have, their firepower may just have to ind its feet yet.

Zlatko Dalic’s outfit have lined out with a 4-3-3 formation in all three of their games so far and it is unlikely they will change things up for Tomorrow evening’s encounter. Their defence is anchored by the experience of Lovren and Gvardiol while Modric, Kovacic and Brozovic will be expected to run things in midfield and get the ball to their forwards.