Copa America: La Celeste Set for Showdown with Samurai Blue

Uruguay vs Japan

Uruguay and Japan had polar opposite results to begin their Copa America campaigns. La Celeste delivered a heavy 4-0 thrashing on a 10-man Ecuador, while the Japanese were on the receiving end of that scoreline against defending champions Chile.

The young Samurai played well and created a handful of good opportunities, but they were simply not clinical enough in front of goal.

They will need to step up their game against Uruguay, who possess arguably the most fearsome strike partnership in the entire tournament in Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani.

The two veteran marksmen were on target against Ecuador and will certainly be eager to add to their tally against the young and inexperienced Japanese.

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2019 Copa America

Talking Points

Uruguay’s old guard have still got it

Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani may be getting up there in age — both are now 32 — but they showed against Ecuador that they still have a lot left in the tank and are capable of producing more Copa America 2019 highlights.

Or at the very least, they have shown that while they may not be at their absolute peak anymore, they are still head and shoulders above subpar opposition.

Uruguay were somewhat fortunate to see Ecuador go down to 10 men early in the match. But even when it was 11 v 11, it seemed clear that they had the superior squad and would find a way to win eventually.

After watching Chile’s matchup with Japan, the Uruguayans should be confident in their ability to create some good goalscoring chances against an inexperienced Japanese backline.

Japan’s defenders have a total of just 20 international caps between them, with 13 of those coming from 20-year-old Takehiro Tomiyasu alone.

Cavani, with his size and physicality, is more than capable of having his way against those defenders, while the slippery Suarez is almost sure to find space in dangerous areas on a consistent basis.

Meanwhile, the backline led by Diego Godin and Martin Caceres is also still going strong despite the two heading into their mid-30s.

On paper, the Uruguayan defence is much more talented than Chile’s, which could result in fewer opportunities for the Samurai Blue.

Young Samurai must be more lethal

Japan’s 4-0 defeat to Chile certainly doesn’t look good, but that scoreline didn’t quite reflect how capably the Samurai Blue played in that match.

Despite the Copa America 2019 odds being stacked against them, the Japanese came out confidently and were not afraid to play against the defending champions.

That led to them creating a handful of great opportunities throughout the match. Unfortunately, the young Japanese were just not able to put any of them away.

Youthful Japan are still a big threat to other teams despite their recent loss in Copa America — Japan’s Takefusa Kubo ready to fire the ball during their match against Chile

Striker Ayase Ueda, in particular, had three really good chances but failed to take any of them. Teenage sensation and recent Real Madrid signing Takefusa Kubo was also quite lively, while captain Gaku Shibasaki did well pulling the strings in midfield.

With the lack of experience and strength in Japan’s defence, it will be an uphill battle for them to keep Uruguay’s lethal strikers quiet for the entire match.

But in terms of offence, the Japanese have shown a lot of promise and optimism that they can cause some problems against even the best sides.

However, they will need to make the most out of those chances if they hope to keep the scoreline a bit more respectable.

History

Uruguay and Japan have squared off against each other a total of seven times. Uruguay have won four of those matches, while Japan have won twice.

The Japanese actually won their most recent meeting against the South Americans last year, which turned out to be an exciting 4-3 shootout.

Although, it should be noted that that was a different Japanese team which still included a number of their best and most experienced veterans, while Uruguay were without Suarez for that friendly.

Betting Tip

	Uruguay vs Japan	Uruguay Asian Handicap -2.00 @ 2.09
	June 21, 07:00 (GMT+8)

Anything short of a Uruguay victory would be quite a shock. SBOBET odds currently have Japan priced at a massive 10.50 to win on the 1X2 market, which goes to show just how unlikely that result is. As valiant as Japan’s performance against Chile was, they appear bound for another significant defeat.

The match-up between Uruguay’s elite front two and Japan’s green backline is a major advantage to the South Americans. Suarez and Cavani are too good for those inexperienced defenders to handle and should see to it that Uruguay run out comfortable winners.