Ecuador vs Japan
Ecuador meets Japan at the Estadio Mineirao in a game both teams need to win to keep their slim tournament hopes alive.
Copa America Ecuador vs Japan is a battle for third place in Group C; being drawn in a group with powerful opponents Chile and Uruguay was always going to make it an uphill battle and opening day thrashings for both sides didn’t help.
But they are still alive and kicking, in Ecuador’s case only just! And they have one last chance to give their fans a treat, or it’s the end of the road. Let’s take a closer look at these two teams’ form, and at the very latest Ecuador vs Japan betting odds right here at SBOBET.
Talking Points
It can’t get much worse for Ecuador…can it?
Ecuador started the competition by taking a 4-0 thumping at the hands of Uruguay, and that only served to highlight the holes in their squad since the retirement of a number of key players. They still have Antonio and Enner Valencia in midfield and attack, but their defence was seriously exposed.
Defeat to Chile in their second game means Hernan Gomez’ side needs a big win against Japan, and for results elsewhere to go their way to have any chance of staying in the competition. And they suffered collateral damage against Chile with key defender Gabriel Achilier receiving his marching orders for an elbow on midfielder Arturo Vidal.
That moment of madness makes Ecuador even weaker at the back and goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez is likely to be a busy boy again when he meets the youthful Japan attack.
Enner Valencia has Premier League pedigree, having played for both West Ham United and Everton in the UK, and scoring some spectacular goals, including a scorcher in his West Ham debut against Hull City. He bagged Ecuador’s only goal of the tournament so far, from the penalty spot against Chile. That was Valencia’s 29th goal for his country and he’s two away from being Ecuador’s all time top scorer.
With a depleted defence I expect Ecuador to go on the attack in search of a result.
Hope for youthful Japan
The Blue Samurai suffered a similar fate to Ecuador in their opener against Chile. The reigning champions looked determined to make it three Copa America titles on the bounce as they set about their opponents in ruthless style.
But head coach Hajime Moryasu made seven changes for the next game and Japan’s young guns stunned Copa America fans by holding the highly fancied Uruguay to a 2-2 draw, and if they play like that again they could well have the better of Ecuador.
It could have been even better for the Blue Samurai had VAR not come to Uruguay’s rescue, awarding a penalty to get the favourites back into the game after Japan’s midfield star Koji Miyoshi had scored the first of his two goals.
Head coach Hajime Moryasu has come under some criticism for his selection of an inexperienced squad, the most barbed comment coming from Venezuela boss Rafael Dudamel who said: “I do not agree that a guest like Japan gives due importance to its participation by coming with players that are mostly under 23.”
He might be even more irritated if they outplay another South American side!
History
This is actually the second time Japan has appeared in the Copa America, drawing one and losing two games back in 1999. They can go one better this time if they avoid defeat to Ecuador.
Their opponents’ best effort came in the 2016 Copa America when they reached the quarter finals.
There isn’t much to go on in terms of head to head Ecuador vs Japan results, the only previous meeting was in 2006 and ended in a 1-0 victory for Japan.
And recent form favours the Asians with two wins in six games, while Ecuador has gone six without a win and lost the last three matches.
Betting Tip
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Ecuador vs Japan | Draw 1×2 @ 3.30 |
| June 25, 07:00 (GMT+8) |
This is likely to be a tight game; with Ecuador at 2.32 and Japan at 2.89 to win, any of the three results is quite possible.
The prize for a win could be a quarter final clash with hosts Brazil, but in any case it would represent progress for the victors. If Japan’s young team can play as well as it did against Uruguay then they could win, but I expect Ecuador to restore some pride with a better performance to get out of a losing rut.
It’s not a good outcome for either but I think the two teams could cancel each other out.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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