Italy faces Japan on Wednesday in their second Group A match of the 2013 Confederations Cup. The match starts at 6 p.m. ET. Tune into ESPN or watch the live stream here.
Italy can all but guarantee a place in the semifinals with a win against Japan, ESPN reports. After a 2-1 victory on Sunday over Mexico, Italy rolls in to Wednesday's matchup with momentum.
Japan, meanwhile, enters the match with Saturday's loss to Brazil still hanging on their shoulders. Japan, which lost 3-0 on Saturday to the host nation, recently qualified for the 2014 World Cup by drawing 1-1 against Australia. While the Confederations Cup is more of a dress rehearsal for next year's event, Japan doesn't want to suffer another rout in the tournament.
"We weren't able to demonstrate our abilities against Brazil. We only showed about 50 percent of what we can do," Japan manager Alberto Zaccheroni told reporters. "We take the field (against Italy) knowing that this is like a final for us. We will be giving it our all, because we know that if we lose it's all over."
Japan captain Makoto Hasebe added: "We were too defensive against Brazil. It's a shame we lost, but they're a strong team and they had the crowd behind them. All of that definitely affected us."
Italy manager Cesare Prandelli isn't reading into Japan's loss on Saturday. He knows the team, managed by his compatriot, isn't to be taken lightly - especially as Italy tries to qualify for the Cups' semifinal.
"Japan will have the slight edge, I think, because they have an extra day of rest," he told reporters. "Plus, Alberto knows us very well, he knows how we work. I expect him to prepare a trap for us.
"I trust that he will come up with an interesting strategy against us."
