Confident Dutch or meticulous Japanese: the Texas showdown provides the answer

The stadium with the largest capacity and where the most matches will be played at this year's World Cup, the AT&T in Texas, will be the scene of one of the potentially most interesting duels of the first round of the group stage of the 23rd World Cup.

Tonight at 22pm Central European Time, the Netherlands and Japan will face off..

Although Group F also includes Tunisia and Sweden, this is the absolute derby of the group, and it could even be decisive for winning first place.

Headaches for the “tulip” selector, Ronald Koeman, the injury was inflicted Jurijen Timber which caused the Arsenal defender to drop from the list at the last minute.

He should replace it. Jan Pol van Heke, who has a more than interesting story attached to him. If he follows family tradition, the Brighton defender will have to carry the Netherlands to the final. His uncle is Jan Portvlit who was in the Netherlands' defense in the 1978 World Cup final. The "Orange" team was defeated in the final after extra time by Argentina (3:1).

"A huge sense of pride. It's fantastic to be here," Van Heke told reporters ahead of the opening match of the World Cup.

The goalkeeper also suffered an injury in the friendly match. Bart Ferbrugen, while Memphis Depay played a little bit lately.

"We know that Depay has had a few injuries and hasn't played in the last few weeks, but he's back and every day he's getting closer to his maximum. He's our top scorer and we need him if we want to play well in this tournament. We need everyone," Koeman pointed out.

The Dutch coach believes in his team, but at the same time respects his rival.

"They showed that they are really strong as a team. We believe in ourselves, we respect Japan, but we are the Netherlands and they will respect us. We are looking forward to the game. I think it will be an interesting and difficult match," Koeman underlined.

The Dutch have four medals (three silver, one bronze), but have never lifted the "golden goddess".

Many see the Japanese as one of the teams that could cause problems for everyone from the shadows. However, they too have problems with injuries. Wataru Endo dropped out and also announced that he was ending his national team career.

"I was surprised when I heard that Endo wouldn't play. We'll have to make do with the remaining players," said the Samurai midfielder. Takefusa kubo.

Full of self-confidence are the chosen ones Hajime MoriyasuThey have won the last six friendly matches as many times. In that series, they have beaten giants like Brazil (3:2) and England (1:0), as well as two other World Cup participants - Scotland (1:0) and Ghana (2:0).

In the third and, as it turned out, decisive round of the Asian qualifiers, Japan was phenomenal. They won 23 points and first place in Group C, where the competition was fierce by Asian qualifier standards - Australia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, China and Bahrain.

Japan has never gone beyond the round of 16 at a World Cup, so it is clear that they see the 23rd World Cup as a historic chance to reach the finals.

Definitely a match that could be one of the best in the opening part of the championship. It could also provide answers to some questions - how far each of these two teams is willing to go.