How do you think Japan, which is grouped with Cameroon, the Netherlands and Denmark in the first round of the World Cup, will fare?

Tough group, Japan to go home. There's now way they could be those 3 countries.

maybe third in their group if they are lucky.

smackdown. humiliation. wasted trip for many.

Japan will do a 'Blyth Spartans' and come second in the group behind the Dutch.

fare well.

Japan has absolutely no chance with the likes of these quality oppositions.They may as well book their safaris in advance they don,t have enough overseas based players to make an impact the Jleague isn,t physical or realistic enough to mould any player into a real footballer therefore Japan,s chances are slimmer than Anjelina jolie,s wasteline....

This isn't the pool of death. is it? forgive my being not up to date on the world cup. All the best to Japan, anything can happen in the world cup.

I predict Jpn will get one goal, question is what number will they allow?

Sad but Japan is going out in round 1. i.e. we all will suffer for it in Japan as all television coverage will also end. If Japan's not in it, why bother....

I heard few J-tourists are interested in making the trek to SAfrica, think they know something!

exactly. Once Japan is gone in the first round, the coverage will end and no one will understand the caliber required by watching quality players, or to get to know a team or even root for other players (gasp). It's fine enough to root for a home team, but if Japan has no idea what the league is like then they can only experience continued disappointment.

This happens in baseball broadcast too. Watched a US baseball game which ended suddenly then I realized it was only on because of the Japanese pitcher. Ugh. Too fickle to give a damn. Same in golf, same in tennis... Can no one just enjoy the sport? Unsportsmanlike conduct begets continued failure

guys, loads of sites will be streaming games live....

Most people underestimate the Japanese. Japan will surprise everyone and take 2nd place in the first group which will allow them to move on to tne next group.

uh, noborito / sf2k : you obviously know nothing about the Japanese TV coverage of the world cup. I'm not talking about satellite or cable either. Just do a search on google.co.jp ... or can you not read Japanese?

Japan will surprise everyone

Well they sure surprised me last time. With a goal up, they managed to let Australia score three goals within the last few minutes of the match. I hope for their sakes they won't rest on their laurels again in the same situation.

They draw against Denmark, beat Cameroon by a perfectly taken free kick by Keisuke Honda, and narrowly lose from the Dutch.. Dreaming? No as long as Tamada sits on the bench

They might scrape a draw I think. Advancing would be a serious longshot.

Hope the Samurai Blue kids will have fun there. Not much for the goals, though. This Okada guy keeps whinning about vuvuzela's (the cheering trumpets) being noisy. Very un-football. Africa is a nice place, they can enjoy some safari etc.

Japan is not a world class team. I would say bit below Millwall and same level as MK Dons, maybe Brighton. They have no chance, and foe anyone who thinks there will be decent coverage on J telly, get lost you know nuffink!!!

All games can be found live onlin on live footydoctor, FSI Crew or TVU, with proper commentary, not non stop so desu ne!

I predict 0 and 3 with a maximum of three goals scored. In addition to lacking enough world-class talent and coach/system, they all appear to lose their "fighting spirit" when faced with any kind of adversity. I can hear the excuses already -- too much noise, too far to travel, bad food, etc.

I agree with maotsetung.

Don't bother booking the hotel any longer than the first round.

don't know much about soccer, but the general consensus among my students is not very well.

Japan will lose catastrophically to Cameroon...

Then after everybody they are over - draw with Nederlands, beat Denmark and go on in the tournament!

But the 1/16 match will be their last one.

P.S. Yea, I can understand noborito - other sports like basketball World cup are good example. But football is different - NHK BS is airing more than 40 games! Fuji TV, TBS also. Sky Perfect SkaChan have the rights for full coverage - 24 hours a day football. If you can bare the time difference there is no time to sleep for 3 weeks basically!

Unfortunately they are likely to go out in group stage. Would be good if they can make it further.

stevecpc, you know "nuffink." If you are a cheapskate and can't afford satellite or cable, no worries. You can watch 22 games on "minpou" TV.

Football has become a ridiculous sport where goal celebrations turn in to a mass hugging and kissing group thing. And it looks like the WWF when so many of the players pretend to be fouled and/or injured and are completely faking it.

Japan may achieve second or third in their group if they can push themselves harder than usual. As for aforementioned hugging and kissing after a goal, that's all some of us play for. Not myself I hasten to add.

FIFA World Cup 2010 + Japan National Team = Grown men crying. And of course the obligatory cries of "KUYASHI"...