Soccer - Basketball - Match

Socceroos head coach Holger Osieck should re-structure his midfield if Australia is to have any sort of impact in their maiden East Asian Cup appearance. The Socceroos barely touched the ball throughout Saturday's 0-0 draw with hosts South Korea and only escaped with a point due to a phenomenal performance from goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic.

Galekovic made a string of impressive saves to keep a clean sheet in Seoul but Osieck will undoubtedly have 

been disappointed in the failure of his midfielders, Mark Milligan, Dario Vidosic and Ruben Zadkovich, plus substitute Erik Paartalu, to gain any sort of ascendency against the South Koreans.

Osieck's decision to play Zadkovich for the entire 90 minutes was hard to fathom due to the Newcastle Jets captain's poor passing. On Saturday, Zadkovich regularly just thumped the ball long rather than trying to pick out a Socceroos teammate and Osieck has a number of options, who could replace the 27-year-old.

Matt McKay, one of the few experienced players in Australia's squad, could be shifted centrally after struggling to get involved as a left-winger versus South Korea, while Aaron Mooy deserves a chance after a strong campaign with A-League premiers Western Sydney Wanderers last season.

Osieck may also be tempted to play Archie Thompson as the central striker against Japan as the Melbourne Victory veteran seemed almost stranded on the right wing in the Socceroos East Asian Cup opener.

If Thompson does play down the middle and McKay is picked in central midfield, Mitch Nichols, Craig Goodwin, Adam Taggart and Connor Pain could all play a role out wide.

For Japan head coach Alberto Zaccheroni, the focus since Sunday's 3-3 draw with China will have been on his team's defence. Japan have conceded 12 times in their past four games and threw away a two-goal lead in the last 10 minutes against China.

Japan vs Australia Live Stream went behind early on Sunday through a penalty from Wang Yongpo and while goals from Yuzo Kurihara, Yoichiro Kakitani and Masato Kudo looked to have put Zaccheroni's team on track for victory, China hit back.

Wang scored another penalty and Sun Ke slotted the equaliser in the 87th minute to secure a point, which has kept the East Asian Cup all square heading into the second round of games.

If Japan vs Australia are as defensively frail on Thursday, Osieck and the Socceroos may fancy their chances of sneaking a win just as they threatened to in a World Cup qualifier at the start of last month.