GEORGE, South Africa (Kyodo) Holding midfielder Yuki Abe has ordered Japan to go out with a deliberate game plan to frustrate and choke the Netherlands in their Group E meeting in Durban on Saturday.
"The Dutch themselves think their strength lies in attack so what we need to do is try to wind them up and frustrate them," Abe told reporters after Wednesday's training session.
"(Wesley) Sneijder will be putting himself all over the place looking to get hold of the ball. There are other good players on their team as well and it will be difficult to keep tabs on all of them so we will have to be on our guard," added the soft-spoken Urawa Reds utility man.
Japan matched the Netherlands blow for blow in the first half of their away friendly in Enschede last September but were eventually overpowered as goals from Robin van Persie, Sneijder and Klaas Jan Huntelaar gave the Oranje a 3-0 win.
"We know they came on strong in the second half last year, but we just have to try and forget about that game," said Abe.