An interesting turn of events in the Asian games 2018 has brought the far east nations (S. Korea and Japan) to the soccer final. The fans of the respective countries are steaming out more than usual, because the match (as a game) is merely the tip of the iceberg. There are two main reasons behind the hype, so lets analyze their connection and effects on the outcome of the final with a prediction. 

Japan VS South korea. Asia's biggest rivalries (Image Source)
  • Who doesn't know about the Korea-Japan war. Though the bloody brawl happened quite a few centuries ago (1592-1598), but the descendants have never actually recovered from the horrible aftershocks. One can easily spot the hidden agony among the people of these nations and the excitement when they take over each other in any aspect of life. This would be strongly demonstrated in the preparation for finals when the fans have also tied up their belts and are up for the shout. 

  • If S. Korea loses this match, their beloved right forward 'Son Heung Min' would have to put a pause to his career for about 2 years. That sounds weird right? No, they are not planning to punish him. Actually, since the North & South Korea war, it became compulsory for every Korean male to serve in the army for a couple of years, which is surely not a cream cake for the new K-Pop generation. However, there is a work around for athletes only if they bring home a gold medal. Being the last chance for 26 years old star, this match would be no less of a nightmare and side effects can also engulf Tottenham hotspur, where Min plays as a winger.
Spur's winger and Reds hear. Son Heung Min (Image Source)

     Japan (Samurai Blue) vs S. Korea (The Reds) Match Analysis

Both teams have potential players and adequate team strategies. Their national teams qualified for the recently concluded FIFA WC 2019. However, some changes have been made so, let's expand the discussion a bit in the light of their current performance, above mentioned facts and see..

What can we expect from this finale?

One thing that we need to notice here is that Japan is playing with their U21 team in the AG. However, it does not at all means that there are any adverse effects on the outcome as we saw a complete domination by the blues in almost all games of AG. Ueda ayase has been amazing as a forward along with Iwasaki yuto and yugo playing their part in putting some scores on their side. The combination has been effective so far and the one thing they would need additionally to pierce through the better defense of S. Korea is accurate long distance shots as the the less number of goals conceived by the Reds confirm that their defense is rock solid. This was also observed in their world cup performance when German players struggled to take down the wall and ended up losing the match with good consecutive counter attacks by the Reds. 

However, as discussed before that it is kind of a last chance for Min to hold on to his career, this would actually put a pressure on him and he would be probably extra passionate and enthusiastic to score. And, wise people say that extra passion and desperation is a venom for the tactics so we can expect a break-off in strategy of the reds. The question is if blues would be able to wisely take advantage of it so a light version of prediction is to be made.

U21 soccer team of Japan (Image Source)

Probable Strategy & Prediction:

In my point of view, blues would play with a defensive strategy at least in the first half with probable formation of 4-3-3 or even 4-4-2 to induce a frustration in the opponent's end. It would create a hard-to-score kind of situation. Even though i asked some die-hard fans of S. Korea for the prediction and they say it would be 3-0 or even 4-0 with reds but, i would cut short some of their bias-ness and we can expect a tough match of about 2-1 or even 2-2 with a high probability of sliding off even more. Nonetheless, it would be a great show tomorrow and i hope we shall not miss the free ride of excitement.

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       What is your prediction and which factors might influence?