Japan and Mexico will face off on Saturday in each side's final Confederations Cup match.
With two losses in their first two matches, Mexico and Japan have already been eliminated from contention. Mexico's poor form in the tournament has only been an extension of the team's lackluster display in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers this season. Mexico started its campaign with a 2-1 loss against Italy; the team failed to generate scoring chances and only capitalized on a penalty shot goal from Javier Hernandez. In its second match, Mexico was dismantled by Brazil in a 2-0 defeat.
The poor performances have raised questions about the future of Mexican coach Jose de la Torre.
"Whatever the result against Japan, it won't lose me the support of my players or my bosses [at the Mexican FA],'' De la Torre told FIFA.com. "For the sake of our pride, we really want to win this game. We don't want to bow out without any points, particularly since our aims [for this competition] had been so different.''
Japan was shutout 3-0 against Brazil but had a heartbreaking 4-3 loss against Italy; the Japanese actually scored four goals in the match, but one of them went into their own goal.
Projected Lineups:
Japan: Eiji Kawashima; Atsuto Uchida, Yasuyuki Konno, Maya Yoshida, Yuto Nagatomo; Makoto Hasebe, Yasuhito Endo; Shinji Okazaki, Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa; Ryoichi Maeda
Mexico: Jesus Corona; Hiram Mier, Hector Moreno, Francisco Rodriguez, Carlos Salcido; Gerardo Torrado, Jesus Zavala; Pablo Barrera, Giovani Dos Santos, Andres Guardado; Javier Hernandez
Prediction: Japan has been the superior and will pull off a 3-1 victory.
Start Time: 3 PM ET
TV: ESPN Deportes, Univision
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