This Sunday, the Brazil Women’s team will face off against Japan Women in an Olympic match at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
Brazil started their Olympic journey with a victory, while Japan suffered a close loss to 2023 World Cup champions Spain.
Following their failure to advance from the group stage in the 2023 World Cup, Brazil is determined to have a successful tournament.
In their first match of the competition, Gabi Nunes scored the winning goal, securing a 1-0 victory over Nigeria on Thursday. With this narrow win, Brazil is well on track to continue their streak of reaching the knockout rounds in every Olympic appearance since 1996. Their next focus will be on facing Japan for the fourth time in three months.
They previously won 4-3 and lost 2-0 before meeting at the SheBelieves Cup earlier this year. After a 1-1 draw, Brazil eventually won in a penalty shootout and took third place.
On the other hand, Japan’s Olympic journey began with a loss despite scoring an early goal against Spain. Even though Aoba Fujino’s free-kick gave them a lead in the 13th minute, it was quickly cancelled out by Aitana Bonmati.
Mariona Caldentey sealed Spain’s victory in the second half, ending Japan’s three-game winning streak.
Despite this defeat, Japan has high hopes of advancing from the group stage as they have done in their previous four Olympic appearances. They have faced Brazil twice before at the Olympics: losing 2-0 in 1996 and winning 2-0 in 2012 during the quarterfinals.
Brazil vs. Japan odds
The upcoming match in the second round of the Women’s Olympics is expected to be a tight one, with bookmakers giving Brazil Women a 35.70% chance of winning and Japan Women a slightly higher probability of 35.80%.
The odds for Brazil Women are set at 9/5, while the draw has odds of 12/5 and Japan Women have odds of 8/5.
Team News
It is uncertain whether Brazil’s defender Tamires will be able to play due to an injury she sustained during their match against Nigeria.
If Tamires is unable to play, Yasmim is the most likely candidate to take her place in the back four alongside Antonia, Rafaelle Souza, and Tarciane.
The team’s captain, Marta, will be leading them once again and is expected to have a strong performance after providing an assist in their previous game.
Japan may be without Manchester City’s new signing, Risa Shimizu, who was taken off on a stretcher with a potential knee injury during their loss to Spain. In her absence, Hana Takahashi may start in Sunday’s match against Brazil.
Chelsea’s forward Maika Hamano could also potentially earn a starting spot after coming on as a substitute in their first game.
Brazil possible starting lineup: Lorena; Antonia, Rafaelle, Tarciane, Yasmim; Ludmila, Yaya, Duda, Marta; Nunes, Portilho
Japan possible starting lineup: Yamashita; Minami, Kumagai, Koga; Takahashi, Miyazawa, Fujino, Nagano; Hasegawa, Hamano; Tanaka
Match Predication
After a loss in their first game against Spain, Japan will be determined to secure all three points. However, we predict that they may encounter a similar outcome as their 1-1 draw against Brazil at the SheBelieves Cup in April.
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