Who: South Korea, Japan
When: Saturday, July 28, (12:35 GMT)
Where: Jaka Baring Stadium, Palembang, Sumatra
It is the game that no team wants to play, the dreaded third and fourth place play-off.
This game however, has something at stake. The winner will not have to qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup, though it is debatable if that is a good thing or not.
South Korea:
“The most terrible game in football,” said coach Pim Verbeek. The team always said it would return to Indonesia after the group stage but the expectation was that the capital Jakarta would be the venue, not the Sumatran city of Palembang.
The Taeguk Warriors must be tired. Two 120 minute-games in the past six days in gruelling conditions and heavy pitches have taken their toll and there are sure to be some new faces for the clash with the old enemy.
Korea failed to score in the knockout stage and found the target just three times in the competition as a whole. Japan’s defence is more generous than most – seven goals conceded so far.
Japan
The champions are also less than overjoyed about the clash.
Japan have been one of the most impressive teams of the tournament and have hit the back of the net 11 times so far. It won’t be easy to do so against a Korean defence that has only conceded three.
The 3-2 defeat in the semi-final against Saudi Arabia was the best game of the competition.
Osim has promised changes to the tired team that lost to Saudi Arabia.
Recent History
The two last met during the 2005 East Asian Cup when a Yuji Nakazawa goal gave Japan a 1-0 win in the Korean city of Daegu.
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