Japan hold no surprises for the Dutch

DURBAN: The Dutch have good reason to give Japan plenty of respect before their match and not just because of the Blue Samurai’s surprise victory over Cameroon in their opener.

The Dutch, who will be looking for vast improvement on their 2-0 victory over Denmark, have fresh memories of their shock at being outplayed by the Japanese in a friendly last year.

Coach Bert van Marwijk is expected to stick with the same line-up he chose for the Denmark game, preferring again to use impressive winger Eljero Elia as an impact player coming on from the bench.

The Netherlands’ most potent weapon on the wing, Arjen Robben, has been training on his own this week as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury and is highly unlikely to be risked.

Japan’s win over Cameroon ended a miserable run of results for Takeshi Okada’s team and so he will again forgo the traditional short passing game for a more compact defensive style.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2010.