MALI v JAPAN
Friday 23rd March 2018 – Kickoff: 1520hrs
Football – International Friendly
It’s international football this weekend, and while the lower leagues continue to churn on, the national teams continue their preparation for the World Cup in Russia this June. Japan make their way to African side, Mali, on Friday afternoon.
Mali endured a disappointing and ultimately, disastrous World Cup qualifying campaign in the third round of the African World Cup qualifiers, as they failed to win a single match in Group C which contained the likes of Morocco, Ivory Coast and Gabon.
With four draws and two defeats, Mali finished bottom of the group and to make matters even worse, they managed to muster just the single goal throughout their six group matches, which was in a 3-1 defeat away at Ivory Coast.
Mali have failed to score in their last four matches, and their best hopes of getting a result here appears to be to hold Japan to a draw.
Japan qualified for Russia 2018 courtesy of finishing top of Group B in the Asia section where, on the whole, they were seemingly in control throughout the campaign, as they held off serious challenges from Saudi Arabia and Australia.
The Blue Samurai suffered two defeats along the way though, and these were against United Arab Emirates in the opening game of the group matches (at home), and their last match in a 1-0 loss at Saudi Arabia.
In between, Japan picked up six wins with notable victories over Saudi Arabia and Australia (both at home), while gaining revenge over UAE with a 2-0 away win last March. With the likes of Honda, Osako, Okazaki in attacking areas, with Hasebe pulling the strings in midfield, Japan should get the win here.
Pick: Japan to win @ 1.69 Marathonbet
