76 min “Japan v Saudi-Arabia was reasonably fun, as far as goalless draws go,” returns Kári Tulinius. “Hervé Renard sent his Green Falcons out to get a draw, and they did. Samurai Blue had a number of good chances, but couldn’t convert. Like previous iterations of the team, they play extremely attractive football, but lack that cutting edge up front which might get them far in the World Cup. Meanwhile, the stars of the show in Saitama were the fans, who cheered on their side and sang all the way through the match.”
The China fans have also been excellent. I guess Saudi are assuming they can beat Bahrain and that australia won’t beat Japan, meaning a win in the final match will take them through.
