Japan and Serbia face off in an international friendly match on Friday.
Japan and Serbia are ranked 42 and 43 respectively on the FIFA/ Coca-Cola World Rankings.
Japan has improved in recent months after a poor showing at the FIFA Confederations Cup in June. The team drew 3-3 with China in July before barely beating Australia 3-2. The team also managed a tight 2-1 win over Korea Republic at the end of July. In August, the team was destroyed 4-2 by Uruguay but bounced back in a September friendly against Guatemala with a 3-0 win. Its most recent game was a 3-1 win over Ghana at Yokohama.
Serbia has been solid in its last five matches dating back to March. The nation defeated Scotland 2-0 in the World Cup qualifiers before losing against Belgium 2-1 Brussels during the June qualifiers. In August, the team faced off against Colombia in an international friendly and lost 1-0 in Barcelona. That game was followed up with a 1-1 draw against Croatia in Belgrade that hurt the Croats' chances of winning the top spot in Group A of the qualifiers. In its most recent game, Serbia destroyed Wales 3-0 in Cardiff.
This is the second match between the two sides. The teams faced off on April 7, 2010 in an international friendly; the European side finished on top by the score 3-0.
Prediction: Should be an interesting game as both teams are looking to return to top form. Expect Serbia to win 2-0.
Start Time: The match gets underway at 11:30 a.m. EST.
The match will not be broadcast online.
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