Mens Olympic Football - Japan v Egypt

Japan topped group D with a draw against Honduras that took both sides through.Egypt produced a fantastic perfomance to brush past the overly defensive Belarus. A win will see the chance of a medal with Mexico or Senegal waiting in the Semi Final.

London 2012 Mens Olympic Football - Game Day 4 - Quarter Final 1.

Japan U23 v Egypt U23 (Manchester 12:00 4th Aug) Best Match Odds 2.30 3.40 3.30 Best Outright Winners Price: Japan 13.0 & Egypt 26.0.

Tournament Form:

Japan    P3 W2 D1 L0 GF2 GA0 - Top Scorers: Otsu 1, Nagai 1.

Egypt    P3 W1 D1 L1 GF6 GA5 - Top Scorers: Salah 3,Aboutreika 2, Mohson 1.

Team Analysis: Japan have played three controlled games of football. Strong in defence so far with no goals conceded in three matches. In truth they haven't been tested so far with Spain and Morocco dispatched without troubling them. The final match against Honduras was hardly a test as both teams knew a draw would qualify them. In game one they destroyed Spain with fantastic passing and movement. They overloaded the midfield and had runners all over the place. Spain could not cope with this and struggled badly. The intensity of the Japanese in both possession and when losing the ball was very impressive. Game two was a little different and they were able to play with less intensity, even allowing Morocco more time on the ball. They played some nice football and were rarely troubled at the back. The last game was a dour affair with neither team really pressing for the win. The only negative for Japan is their finishing skills. They squandered chances in all three games and this could be very costly as we move to the knockout stages. They only scored 2 goals in 3 matches despite having many chances in each game. Egypt must hope Al Ahly agree to release the three overage players for the remainder of the tournament. Originally they only were to allow Aboutreika, Moteab and Fathi to play for the group stages. Aboutreika in particular will be missed as has been the Egyptian's best player so far. Ochestrating all their best moves and having a hand in most of thier goals. Moteab has played well too and links up excellently with Aboutreika and Salah. Salah has looked deadly in front of goal and has netted 3 so far.  Egypt played game one versus Brazil and were seemingly buried after 30 minutes with three goals conceded. This was a combination of unstoppable Brazilian attacking play and a bit of nervousness from Egypt. To their credit they regrouped and game out in the 2nd half and took the game to Brazil, playing with finesse and scored 2 goals. Game two was a bit lacklustre as they struggled against a poor New Zealand, play was sloppy and they didn't get going at all. In the final game they came together to play another attack minded game and pushed an overly defensive Belarus back time and time again. After going behind Belarus altered formation and tried to attack Egypt but this played into coach Ramzy's gameplan as he switched to fast counters which proved too much for Belarus.

 Betting Analysis - This will be a difficult game for Egypt, almost impossible without star trio Aboutreika, Fathi and Moteab. Japan will bring the high intensity game back and Egypt will struggle to contain them, Japan must be more clinical in their finishing and this is my only worry. Selection is Japan Draw No Bet@1.53