Brazil with a corner
Brazil win a corner but it’s cleared away by Ito.
Japan’s coach is jotting down something on his notepad, as he does.
We’re off!
Brazil, in their traditional yellow shirts and blue shorts, get the ball rolling.
The players are out
The two teams are on the pitch, we’ll be off soon.
It’s a stifling 35C outside, but a very pleasant 21C under the stadium roof.
Compelling sights in the stands
It’s quite the atmosphere inside the air-conditioned Houston Stadium.
Photo: Maria Lysaker, Imagn Images via Reuters
Photo: Annegret Hilse, Reuters
Japan opt for five-man defence
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu makes four changes to his team that drew 1-1 against Sweden in their final Group F game.
Yukinari Sugawara, Ko Itakura, Ayumu Seko and Ao Tanaka are dropped as Japan switch to a five-man defence, with Shogo Taniguchi, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Junya Ito and Kaishu Sano in the starting side.
Japan: Zion Suzuki – Hiroki Ito, Shogo Taniguchi, Takehiro Tomiyasu – Ritsu Doan, Daizen Maeda, Keito Nakamura, Junya Ito, Daichi Kamada, Kaishu Sano – Ayase Ueda.
Brazil line-up unchanged
Ancelotti has named an unchanged side, keeping faith with the team that beat Scotland 3-0 in their final Group C game.
Forward Rayan makes his second start in place of the injured Raphinha, alongside Matheus Cunha and Vinicius Jr.
Brazil: Alisson – Danilo, Gabriel Magalhaes, Marquinhos, Douglas Santos – Casemiro, Bruno Guimaraes, Lucas Paqueta – Matheus Cunha, Rayan, Vinicius Jr
When Japan ‘beat’ Brazil at the World Cup
There is of course another “precedent” between these two teams, as fans of the epic Japanese anime Captain Tsubasa well know.
Here’s a little taster of the fictional World Cup final between Japan and Brazil, in the Italian version of the cartoon (known as “Holly e Benji”).
There’s not much point showing this to today’s kids, who would find it much too slow – a bit like trying to show pre-1990s football to anyone who’s grown up in the Ronaldo-Messi era.
Will we see more of Neymar?
Ancelotti is hopeful he will have Neymar available for more minutes in Houston, after the ailing Brazil star managed just 15 minutes against Scotland in their last group game.
Neymar has been working his way back to fitness from a calf injury, which led Brazil’s President Lula to quip that he was the first “work-from-home” player in the team’s history.
“In the last week his progress has been significant,” Ancelotti told reporters on Sunday. “Unfortunately, he could not play longer than 15 minutes before, but he is now doing well enough to play more.”
Neymar scored his first goal for the Selecao against Japan in a FIFA Confederations Cup match in 2013, and in a friendly the following year he poured in four goals.
Dangerous underdogs
Japan enter the tie as clear underdogs having managed just one win in the group stage, against the tournament’s favourite punching back Tunisia.
They don’t have the history that Brazil can boast. But they have qualified for the knockouts at three straight World Cups and four of the past five, though never advancing past the round of 16.
The Samurai Blue followed up their 3-2 friendly win over Brazil with a 1-0 defeat of England at Wembley earlier this year, making them the World Cup’s dark horses.
Japan without star player Kudo
At 19, Brazil forward Rayan was not part of the squat that lost in Tokyo, and can perhaps be forgiven for admitting he doesn’t know much about the Japanese squad.
“I don’t know who their best player is,” he said when a Japanese reporter asked him. “I’d have to watch the video to be able to tell you. We know that Japan is a very strong team and we have to work hard to give it our all and beat them.”
Options Rayan could have considered in his answer include Takefusa Kubo, a forward nicknamed “the Japanese Messi”, or perhaps Ayase Ueda, a Feyenoord striker who scored the winner against Brazil in October.
But Kubo hasn’t played since suffering a meniscus tear in Japan’s opener against the Netherlands and he has been ruled out for the Brazil clash.
A historic win for the Samurai Blue
Japan fought back from two goals down to defeat Brazil 3-2 at home in October in a friendly for a historic first victory over the South Americans.
Brazil’s 32-year-old captain Marquinhos, who was among several defenders missing from the friendly defeat in October, said they had taken lessons from that night.
“I think that really was a learning experience for us,” he told reporters ahead of the World Cup knockout tie. “I think since then, we have grown quite a bit. We have changed a lot as a squad.”
Welcome to our liveblog,
Five-time champions Brazil take on World Cup dark horses Japan on Monday for a place in the last-16, just months after their first-ever defeat against the Samurai Blue in a friendly.
Brazil’s Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti says the October defeat in Tokyo gave him excellent insight into what to expect in Houston, knowing that failure will send his side home early in the tournament.
“It was a good experience to know that Japan are one of the best teams in the world,” he said. “We have full respect for them and will prepare for the game like it is a final, because to us it is a final.”
Kick-off is at noon Houston time, 7pm Paris time, 2am Tokyo time, and 2pm in Brazil.
