Germany vs Japan: Both teams look for strong start

Both Germany and Japan will be aiming to make a strong start at the 2022 FIFA World Cup as they meet for the first time in this competition on Wednesday. Die Mannschaft suffered an embarrassing early exit four years ago, as they became the latest victims of the “Winners Curse” that plagued Italy and Spain in 2010 and 2014. Long-serving managed Joachim Low has now been replaced by Hansi Flick, and the former Bayern boss will hope to help steer the European giants to glory in his first appearance as a manager at a World Cup.

Germany’s form during the Nations League left something to desired, as they finished third in their group, behind Italy, and surprisingly, Hungary. However, neither of those two teams even qualified for the World Cup, with Italy missing out for the second consecutive time after falling short in the play-offs. In any case, Germany boast an interesting mix of veterans and youth coming into this competition. The experienced duo of Thomas Muller and Manuel Neuer – both well known to Flick from his time at Bayern – again have received call-ups, with Muller making his fourth consecutive appearance in this competition since his debut as a 20-year-old back in 2010. Meanwhile, Mario Gotze, who scored Germany’s World Cup winning goal back in 2014, has received a recall to the squad after five years in the international wilderness.

Much of the buzz has been around the inclusion of several youngsters, namely Bayern’s 19-year-old Jamal Musiala and Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko, who only just turned 18. Moukoko, who was born in Cameroon but moved to Germany as a youngster, burst onto the scene as a 12 year old with Germany’s under-16 squad back in September 2017, and has been breaking records since.

So impressive have been his performances that some have unfairly questioned whether he’s the actual age on his birth certificate, which has seen his father as well as Germany’s football association (DFB) angrily defend him in the press. Moukoko became the youngest debutant for Germany since Uwe Seeler earlier this month as he started during Germany’s 1-0 win over Oman, and could make more history should he, as expected, be involved in Germany’s line-up during this competition.

Meanwhile, Japan come into this match having had a strong qualifying campaign, with 15 wins out of their 18 ties. The Blue Samurai were painfully close to getting to the final eight four years ago, only to see their 2-0 lead somehow overturned by Belgium who managed to score three goals sans reply to dump them out of the competition. Hajime Moriyasu’s men did beat the USMNT in one of their pre-tournament friendlies, but recently were defeated by Canada in their last match prior to this tournament, so it remains to be seen which Japan side will be on display.

Japan are really in a tough quartet, with Spain and Costa Rica also in this group. Spain and Germany are expected to qualify as the top two sides, but anything is really possible, especially if Japan can get a result against Germany on Wednesday.

To date, they have never beaten die Mannschaft, with one loss and draw from their two prior friendly meetings. But if Saudi Arabia’s recent 2-1 win over Argentina is any indicator, any “big team” should underestimate a so-called “underdog” at their own peril.