Alberto Zaccheroni’s Japan were unable to beat a resilient Greece despite playing against 10 men for over half of the World Cup Group C clash.
This is after Greek captain Kostas Katsouranis was shown a second yellow card for a poorly mistimed tackle shortly after the half-hour mark in Natal.
Alberto Zaccheroni’s Japan were unable to beat a resilient Greece despite playing against 10 men for over half of the World Cup Group C clash.
This is after Greek captain Kostas Katsouranis was shown a second yellow card for a poorly mistimed tackle shortly after the half-hour mark in Natal.
Milan’s Keisuke Honda started again for Japan, as did Inter’s Yuto Nagatomo. Vasilis Torosidis, Giannis Fetfatzidis and Panagiotis Kone were the Serie A players selected in the Greek line-up.
With both sides having lost their opening matches of the tournament against Ivory Coast and Colombia respectively, there pressure was on for both to get a result here.
It was the Asian side who made the majority of the running throughout the opening period and they enjoyed an enormous share of the possession.
Despite this, they were unable to really create a clear opportunity, though Greek goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis produced several saves from strikes from distance.
Greece, already up against it, had their task made still harder when Katsouranis produced a careless challenge on Makoto Hasebe. With the midfielder already booked, referee Joel Aguilar had no hesitation in giving him a second yellow and his marching orders.
A minute later, however, the Greeks almost led after a swift counter-attack. Roma’s Vasilis Torosidis let fly with a powerful shot from the edge of the area which was well tipped away by Eiji Kawashima.
Predictably, with their numerical disadvantage, the Greeks sat back in numbers during the second half and hoped to take advantage of a set piece. It was a tactic that was proving largely successful as Zaccheroni’s men continued to struggle to break down their opponents.
Fanis Gekas’ header brought a good save out of Kawashima as the Asians struggled to get any rhythm to their play.
They should, however, have led with just over 20 minutes left as Japan finally got in behind the Greeks. Atsuto Uchida squared the ball across goal to Yoshito Okubo, but with the goal at his mercy the forward could only balloon his finish over.
Several minutes later, some hesitant Greek defending gifted the ball to Uchida himself, but he too could only fire off target.
Japan continued to try to force the issue but Fernando Santos’ team were defending manfully. Maya Yoshida headed over from point blank range while Jose Holebas stung the palms of Kawashima following a rare Greek foray forward.
The final whistle of a dull match eventually sounded, with the Europeans the happier team with their night's work. The result means both teams avoid early World Cup elimination, though neither will be fancied to progress to the Last 16 when the final Group C matchday takes place next week.
Japan 0 – 0 Greece
Japan: Kawashima, Uchida, Honda, Nagatomo, Okazaki, Okubo, Konno, Yamaguchi, Hasebe (c) (Endo 45), Osako (Kagawa 57), Yoshida
Greece: Karnezis, Maniatis, Manolas, Samaras, Kone (Salpingidis 81), Mitroglou (Gekas 35), Torosidis, Fetfazidis (Karagounis 42), Sokratis, Holebas, Katsouranis (c)
Referee: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador)