Greece is coming off a 3-0 lost to Colombia. Yet, their defeat might be mentally less damaging to their players than Japan's defeat to Ivory Coast, 2-1. Japan showed how good they are technically in the first half. What turned out to be their problem was their lack of muscle throughout the pitch. Ivory Coast absolutely battered the Japanese in terms of power in the second half. This is not to say that Ivory Coast did not deserve their win though; this is more to say that the Japanese were definitely not inferior to their African opponents in terms of quality.
Coincidentally, the man who struck the opener for Japan seemed to be their strongest player on the pitch, Keisuke Honda. Honda's strike was absolutely brilliant; he showed why he is Japan's heart and soul. Honda's back up team were performing well too until Ivory Coast started to push on with force. Atsuto Uchida of Schalke had a good day on the wing while Shinji Okazaki seemed to be pivotal to every Japanese attack. For a machine to function, all of its parts need to work well. Honda will require his teammates to play to his level.
Coach Alberto Zaccheroni has said his star will step up against Greece according to goal.com:
"My expectations regarding Honda are that he will deliver as has delivered so far. He is a very important player and point of reference of this team."
"I think I rely on a player who performed very well in the past four years. This shouldn’t be surprising, Honda is an important player. I consider him to be an excellent player."
Zaccheroni took his captain, Makoto Hasebe, off quite early in the previous match. Hasebe has the ability to stand in front of the defense and guide the midfield. He does so in a league which can be quite physical at times, namely, the Bundesliga. While the German league consists of plenty of technical players, they also contain players who are much bigger and stronger than Hasebe. Hasebe competes against them on a regular basis. He will have to be able to hold the midfield together to allow Honda to go forward as often as he wants to.
Honda is ready to go. He definitely has more goals left in him. However, he will have to hope his supporting cast is excellent. If they do their jobs, Honda must provide the icing on the cake by scoring goals or setting them up. Can Keisuke Honda light up the pitch against Greece?
