Japan, who impressed many football fans twice in the group stage, will endeavour to make their story more dramatic when they face Croatia in Monday’s last-16 collision at Al Janoub Stadium.
Giant killers Japan got the chance to see a superb view they have never seen before in the World Cup. Their best record is the last 16 so far, and Hajime Moriyasu’s Japan will challenge to break this record, which will be their fourth attempt to reach the last 8.
Moriyasu calmly said: “Tomorrow’s game will be very difficult and tough, but the players have been preparing until now. Hopefully, they would be able to show what they have been doing.” He must want to keep up the momentum from the two massive upsets against Germany and Spain.
As for Croatia, they aim to reshow their notable performance in the previous competition as they took second place in Russia 2018. When asked about his lineup, Zlatko Dalic avoided specifying as he said: “Regardless of the lineup, I believe we are very prepared. We will do our best. We know what the stakes are. We know who the opponent is.”
Some important players like Ko Itakura (Japan) and Borna Sosa (Croatia) are expected to miss this match, which might have a considerable effect on the result. The game kicks off at 3:00 pm UK time.
