Soccer: Japan eye top spot against unpredictable Tunisia

OSAKA, Japan - Soccer World Cup co-hosts Japan, already one of the biggest stories of the finals, have set their sights on finishing top of group H by beating Tunisia in their final first round match tomorrow.

Japan made national history by drawing 2-2 with Belgium and then beating Russia 1-0 to head the group and erase the memory of losing all three games on their World Cup finals debut four years ago.

But the Asian champions, who only need a point to progress to the knockout stage, are in no mood to suffer a let-down against a Tunisian side who will advance at their expense if they win by a two-goal margin.

"We can't be satisfied with just one win. We want three points to finish top of the group. Tunisia are an unpredictable side, so we can't afford to get careless," said Japan defender Tsuneyasu Miyamoto.

Tunisia kept their World Cup campaign alive with a 1-1 draw against Belgium on Monday but their coach Ammar Souayah has already voiced doubts about their ability to beat Japan.

"We don't really have much of a chance against Japan. They are at home with their own crowd, they have a very, very good team and it's going to be very, very difficult," he said.

Whether this is mere kidology or not, Japan are taking no chances and their French coach Philippe Troussier is expected to name an unchanged team for the match in Osaka.

Midfielder Junichi Inamoto, who scored in both previous games and was twice named the Fifa man of the match, will again be the focus of attention, especially with Hidetoshi Nakata still trying to shake off a knock he picked up against Belgium.

Tunisia will be forced to commit numbers to attack, which could lead to an open game, although the fact that it is being played in the afternoon could put Japan at a disadvantage.

"They have already played an afternoon game, so they are used to the heat. We know they can be dangerous around the box, so we are expecting a very difficult game," said Miyamoto.

Tunisia playmaker Kais Ghodhbane could make life awkward for Japan if given time on the ball, while Hassen Gabsi and forward Ziad Jaziri will keep the defence occupied at Nagai Stadium.

Japan have the added motivation of wanting to avoid a meeting with group A favourites Brazil in the next round.

Teams (probable):

Japan (3-5-2): 12-Seigo Narazaki; 3-Naoki Matsuda, 17-Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, 16-Koji Nakata; 20-Tomokazu Myojin, 5-Junichi Inamoto, 21-Kazuyuki Toda, 7-Hidetoshi Nakata, 18-Shinji Ono; 11-Takayuki Suzuki, 13-Atsushi Yanagisawa

Tunisia (4-5-1): 1-Ali Boumnijel; 2-Khaled Badra, 6-Hatem Trabelsi, 12-Raouf Bouzaiane, 15-Radhi Jaidi; 8-Hassen Gabsi, 13-Riadh Bouazizi, 18-Slim Ben Achour, 10-Kais Ghodhbane, 21-Mourad Melki; 5-Ziad Jaziri

Match referee: Gilles Veissiere (France)

- REUTERS

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