The first fixture of Group C in the 2024 Paris Olympics Games is here. Japan will take on Paraguay at Stade de Bordeaux on the 24th of July at 7 PM (local time).
The team from Asia, Japan football team will be making their 11th appearance at the Olympic Games. It is worth noting that this will be their 8th straight appearance in a row at the Games. Their head coach is Go Oiwa, who is 52 years old, and was appointed right after Japan’s fourth-place finish at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Besides this, Japan are also coming off strong performances at the recent friendly games, which should give them much-needed confidence. They beat the USA 2-0 on the 12th of July, and drew 1-1 against the host nation France who also boast the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, the senior man in their lineup.
Paraguay, meanwhile, are coached by a vastly experienced Carlos Jara Saguier, who is now in his mid-70s. However, this is only the third time that Paraguay’s football team is featuring in the Olympics. They do have a medal at the Olympics, winning silver in Athens 2004, and interesting it was Jara Saguier who was the coach at that time. Unlike Japan, Paraguay have failed to win both their warmup matches, losing 4-1 to France and drawing 2-2 to Ukraine.
Team News and Predicted XI
Japan
Japan’s XI took a major hit after star players Takefusa Kubo and Wataru Endo were not granted permission by their respective clubs (Real Sociedad and Liverpool) to take part in the Olympics. Hence, they will rather boast a very young squad with all eyes on hitman Mao Hosoya. Also in attack is Shota Fujio of Machida Zelvia.
Predicted XI: Kokubo; Sekine, Takai, Kimura, Handa; Fujita, Yamamoto, Mito; Fujio, Hosoya, Hirakawa
Paraguay
Paraguay have some exciting talent lined up in their team, with massive experience coming in the form of Gatito Fernandez who is currently 36 years old. 32-year-old CB Fabian Balbuena will start for them as well. The young Brighton & Hove Albion forward Julio Enciso will start upfront.
Predicted XI: Fernandez; Flores, Balbuena, De Jesus; Nunez, Viera, Gomez, Rivas; D. Gonzalez, Enciso, E. Gonzalez
Match Deciding Duel
Julio Enciso vs. Mao Hosoya
The battle of the forwards. Julion Enciso has proven himself across a number of big stages, and will be hungry to imposing his authority in the Olympic Games. On the other hand, Mao Hosoya has been a lucky charm for the Japan U23s. The team has won all seven matches that Hosoya has scored.
Japan vs. Paraguay Odds
Japan: – 135
Paraguay: +340
Prediction
Japan 1-0 Paraguay
With the form that the young Japan team are in, one can expect them to see off the team from South America. We predict a clean sheet for Go Oiwa’s men as well.
