Japan VS Holland: Van Marwijk expects "aggressive" Japan

Posted Saturday, June 19, 2010 by PA

Holland coach Bert van Marwijk expects a more aggressive Japan than the last time the sides met in a friendly last year.

The Dutch face Japan on Saturday in Durban on the back of a 2-0 win against Denmark in their opening World Cup Group E match.

The Dutch were frustrated by Japan for over an hour before beating them 3-0 back in September.

"This is going to be a tougher fight," said Van Marwijk.

"Both teams want to win and both sides won their first match.

"We cannot compare that game to this one.

"I expect a very aggressive Japan and we are prepared for everything and anything."

Van Marwijk believes Japan have improved since then and that was evident in their 1-0 triumph over Cameroon in their World Cup opener.

"They have progressed a lot," he said.

"They have been together for a long time and have played lots of matches.

"They have been looking for some time to find a style of play which they didn't have in qualifying.

"But they appear to have found that style.

"I have a lot of respect for the Japan coach and his team and we will not be underestimating them."

Van Marwijk believes the Oranje must focus on themselves and not on their rivals.

"People who know me know that I concentrate on my team and I don't make adjustments based on our rivals," he said. "We have to play the way we know how and make the most of our chances."

The Oranje will have plenty of support in Durban with thousands of fans having travelled to South Africa while there is plenty of optimism back home regarding the team's chances to go far in the tournament.

"We hear a lot about the atmosphere back in Holland and this is great," said Van Marwijk. "We also have lots of fans here and it's wonderful that they have travelled such a long way to support us."

Japan coach Takeshi Okada insists he has no feud with his Holland counterpart.

Holland coach Van Marwijk admitted he did not recognise Okada the last time they met at the FIFA draw and mistook him for a federation executive.

"I am not close to Van Marwijk," Okada said. "I don't know him well. We have not been rivals in the past and this is not a personal match.

"I cannot pronounce properly the Dutch coach's surname but by that I don't mean any disrespect. Okada showered Holland with praise but believes they can be beaten.

"We will be playing against a wonderful team, which is one of the favourites for the title," he said. "We are very happy to play this game.

"We realise this is a sophisticated team but we believe we have a chance to win.

"We shouldn't feel small even though Holland have great name players in the team.

"We want to address this challenge with the overall power of this team."

Okada has reason to be upbeat as his side go into the game with a 1-0 victory over Cameroon in their World Cup opener.

"That win has given us a big boost in confidence," he said. "The players are focusing on playing with the same determination."

Okada has not ruled out making tactical changes to the side that beat Cameroon.

"Our style of play will depend on how our rivals play against us," he said.

"What matters is the result, how we play is secondary.

"However, aggressive, hard work on attack and defence will be constant, we will never modify that strategy."

Japan know what to expect having met Holland in a friendly last September where the Dutch were frustrated for more than an hour before eventually winning 3-0.

"Last September, we had an opportunity to play against the Dutch and that was a big turning point for us," Okada added. "We hardly had opportunities before to play against world-class teams.

"That match led us to understand what the positives and negatives were on our team.

"We have been observing Holland since then and they have gained further maturity and improved as a team.

"We now have a Japanese style of playing although it doesn't mean that in terms of technique or skills, there has been an improvement."

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