Japan vs Paraguay

Asian heavyweights Japan and South American strugglers Paraguay are set to lock horns in an exciting international friendly at the Sapporo Dome.

Japan’s warm-up campaign ahead of the upcoming World Cup finals begins against a Paraguay side they’ve defeated in their last three friendly meetings. Two of those three H2H triumphs yielded a clean sheet, which has been the case in Japan’s last five international victories, three of which featured the identical 2-0 scoreline. Since a disheartening 1-0 defeat to Oman in the recently completed World Cup qualifying campaign in September 2021, the ‘Samurai Blue’ have gone unbeaten in their last four home matches (W3, D1). Much of the credit for their impressive home form goes to Japan’s quick-fire starts that saw them open the scoring in all three victories during that four-game sequence.

In the meantime, unlike Japan, Paraguay failed to qualify for Qatar 2022, having finished eighth in the South American qualifying group. ‘Los Guaraníes’ have nothing but pride to play for after missing out on a third successive World Cup finals. However, head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto will be keen to build some confidence in the camp following an underwhelming World Cup qualifying campaign. A lack of scoring prowess has been Paraguay’s Achilles heel in the past year, as they’ve failed to get on the scoresheet in eight of their last nine internationals, barring a 3-1 home triumph over Ecuador in March. Going back to September 2021, they have drawn a blank in all six away matches (D1, L5), conceding 2+ goals in each defeat!

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