Netherlands vs. Japan: Live Updates from the World Cup

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23' Ad break

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By Simon Smale

Time for a quick ad break.

NIPPON, NIPPON!

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By Amanda Shalala

Visually, it looks like a fairly even split of fans in here, but aurally, the Samurai Blue fans definitely have the edge.

They're banging drums and chanting NIPPON, NIPPON, and really riding every moment of this game.

The Dutch fans may have dominated outside the stadium, but they need to lift their game in here.

19' Dangerous ball for Malen

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By Simon Smale

The Dutch centre forward is lurking in the penalty area ready to pounce on any scraps and the ball does get played through to him then.

The Japanese defence is so well organised there though and the ball is cleared.

18' Dutch possession

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By Simon Smale

That is good from the Netherlands.

Summerville does really well on the right side to whip a teasing cross in but it's hammered away by the Japanese defence.

That is how this game is going to go I think - Japan holding the ball well before the Netherlands having a spell of their own.

Very high quality players here.

14' Clever from Maeda and Taniguchi

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By Simon Smale

Maeda gets in behind after a fantastic through ball.

The corner is swept in, half cleared and then sent back across the box by centre back Shōgo Taniguchi into the feet of Maeda, who is only denied by a sliding effort from Jan Paul van Hecke.

I'll repeat, from the second phase possession off the corner, it was the CENTRE BACK who was on the overlap and delivering an inch perfect cross.

Brilliant from Taniguchi.

12' Moment for Japan

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By Simon Smale

Daizen Maeda is a livewire and he almost catches Denzel Dumfries out there.

The Dutch defender dallies a bit on the ball and Maeda nips in and fires a shot towards goal that Dumfries has to stick a foot out to block.

Japan are looking to be patient in possession, and then stretch the big Dutch defenders from side to side with their raking passes.

The view from inside Dallas stadium

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By Amanda Shalala

I was at the Azteca in Mexico City a few days ago for the opener which was a beautiful, historic, colossal masterpiece.

Dallas Stadium is a mega-modern high-end behemoth, and one of the most impressive looking stadia I've ever seen.

It is of course home of the Dallas Cowboys and it is STEEP! I'm up pretty high in the stands and I feel like I'm on top of the action.

The roof is closed, which is great because it is also stinking hot here.

There's also a HUUUUUUGE big screen hanging from the roof right in the centre of the pitch like in a basketball arena.

So my assessment is Dallas Stadium = all kinds of awesome.

Check out more of the stadiums - all of them in fact - here.

6' Free kick Japan

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By Simon Smale

Right on the edge of the penalty area, Keito Nakamura is hacked down by Micky van de Ven.

Silly free kick to give away but Japan sends the free kick too deep - a clever idea to the back post where there were a lot of Japanese players loading that back post area waiting for the knock down.

It was just a bit too heavy.

Netherlands started very well in this game but Japan are already starting to look strong and settled into the game, their long raking passes starting to hit their men.

4' Referee unhappy with the holding at the corner

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By Simon Smale

Moroccan-born American referee Ismail Elfath is the man with the whistle, and he tells the players in the penalty area to get their hands off each other.

Keep an eye on that.

The corner is swept in and cleared by Japan.

3' WHAT A SAVE!

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By Simon Smale

That is sublime from the Dutch, moving the ball around really well into Donyell Malen, who holds the ball up so well inside the penalty area.

He turns and shoots but is denied by a brilliant save by Zion Suzuki.

What a save.

1' De Oranje kick us off

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By Simon Smale

The atmosphere in Arlington sounds off the scale.

The Netherlands have first use of the ball, Tijjani Reijnders kicking off all the way to the back and Bart Verbruggen, who is outside his area and hits a long ball forward.

Game on.

The players are out there

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By Simon Smale

The players are walking out onto the field at AT & T Stadium in Arlington.

Lots of fans clad in Orange.

Lots of fans clad in blue.

The Dutch start us off with a rousing edition of Wilhelmus ringing into the Texas air - great crowd and a great sound.

Now, it's Kimigayo, the most hauntingly beautiful anthem in the world for mine, and a beautiful rendition at that.

No saxophones in either though, which is a negative on both.

Humble Japan wary of 'very tough group'

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By Simon Smale

- Reuters

Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu says he knows his side face a battle to get through a challenging group if the Samurai Blue are to deliver on his dream of going into uncharted territory at the World Cup.

The Japanese kick off their Group F campaign against the Netherlands with Moriyasu sounding a cautious tone despite having previously set his sights on a place in the latter stages of the competition.

"We have to survive this stage no matter what, but at the same time I see that it is a very tough group," said Moriyasu, who took Japan into the last 16 at the finals in Qatar.

"The top of the top talent is found in the Netherlands team.

"In terms of the actual matches, any team from this group could win. Tunisia had clean sheets coming through the qualifiers and Sweden have top level players as well, top level strikers.

"So we don't know who is going to survive from this group. It's really hard to predict."

Japan have never won a game in the knockout phase of the World Cup, losing on each of their four previous appearances in the last 16.

Netherlands pressure comes from within on hunt for elusive World Cup

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By Simon Smale

- Reuters

The Netherlands are putting pressure on themselves to go far in the World Cup, says coach Ronald Koeman, but are not looking beyond their opening Group F encounter against Japan in Dallas.

The Dutch have been to the World Cup final three times before, the last time in 2010, but lost on each occasion and come into this edition among the leading contenders again.

“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves,” Koeman told reporters on Saturday.

“We want to go far in the tournament. We have a strong team and we know what we need to improve to have a real chance.

“But we need to take it one game at a time. We need to focus first on Japan, which will be a difficult game.”

Koeman admits the Netherlands will have to be at their best against a spirited Japan side.

“We have a good impression of the Japanese team, we carefully analyse all our opponents,” he said.

“Their game is offensive. I don’t want to discuss individual players, but we know they are physically strong.

“We also know where our opportunities will lie. We are not afraid of our opponent, but we respect them.”

'Links! Rechts!'

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By Simon Smale

Howdy from Texas

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By Amanda Shalala

Howdy y'all! I'm at Dallas Stadium for the upcoming clash between the Netherlands and Japan.

And I experienced the magic that is the Oranje fan walk on the way to the stadium.

The Dutch fans shipped their iconic Oranje bus all the way from the Netherlands to Texas, and it led the parade of fans to the stadium.

I'm not good at estimating numbers but let's just say there was a LOT of orange, and everyone was having the best time singing and dancing along to the bangers booming from the top deck of the bus.

Not sure if it will be a sea of orange inside, or if there'll be a Samurai Blue-wash. I'll keep you posted. For now, enjoy my happy snaps.

Endo being sent home was a coach's call

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By Simon Smale

- Reuters

Two days after Japanese captain Wataru Endo withdrew from the World Cup due to an ankle injury, his coach Hajime Moriyasu told reporters that he took responsibility for the decision.

Following his withdrawal, Endo announced his retirement from international competition altogether.

Moriyasu spoke with the media through an interpreter on Saturday, saying it was ultimately his responsibility.

"As the head coach, I was the one who made the final decision," Moriyasu said.

The 33-year-old Liverpool midfielder had been dealing with an ankle injury that required surgery in February.

Endo was hoping to be fit for the competition in North America, but experienced discomfort and played only the first half in a May 31 tune-up friendly against Iceland.

"I'd been receiving reports from the medical staff. During the game with Iceland, he was not able to perform on the pitch for a long time," Moriyasu added.

"We had him try as best as he could and also had the medical staff looking after him. We discussed that throughout the World Cup, it may be difficult for him to perform for the entire period of the games, therefore I made the final decision looking at his condition.

"It felt really bad for me to give him such a message. Of course, it's impossible to know exactly how he felt or know what his thoughts were, but he was very understanding and respectful and we could maintain our good conversation in a cool manner."

Endo scored four goals in 73 caps for Japan since his 2015 debut with the national team. He helped the team reach the Round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Shuto Machino, a striker for Bundesliga club Borussia Monchengladbach, replaced Endo on the 26-man World Cup roster.

Team news: Netherlands vs Japan

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By Simon Smale

Here's how the two teams line up for our second game.

Netherlands

Here's how De Oranje line up today.

Japan

And the Samurai Blue are as thus.

Clinical Germany but cheers to Curaçao

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By Simon Smale

Clinical carve up, though Curaçao crowd - a significant portion of the country's population - is very appreciative.

- Big Ben

"Vorsprung durch Technik !" (..... although not VAR I'd argue.) Impressive display from Deutschland after the first-half fright. Danke Simon.

- Old timer

Thanks for being with us in the extremely early hours of the day folks.

We're not even half way done with our coverage today though - about a quarter in fact.

So time for a hydration break (no ads on the ABC) and we'll get stuck into the build up for our second game of the day, and it's a biggie, Netherlands against Japan.