Costa Rica and Japan are both in the Brazil 2014 World Cup and they are playing an international friendly match on Monday night ahead of the start of the tourney and the game from Raymond James Stadium starts up at 9 pm ET and is streaming online from FIFA.com and is a huge test for both sides as they get ready for the 32 nation tournament starting on June 12.
Both teams are in tough groups and the Costa Rican side has a very tough draw coming into the tournament, as they are in the draw with England, Italy and Uruguay and that means they have some very skilled players to go up against. Luis Suarez is dealing with an injury, but he will be a main player for the Uruguayan side and if he returns at full strength, it means that one team likely will have a big disappointment this year. That group is very tough, as there are a number of Premier League players coming into things from that group.
England will be motivated to play well this time, as Wayne Rooney is likely in his last cup and the team has a number of good players, including Frank Lampard and Daniel Sturridge and they will be a strong team. Italy and England start off against each other and the English side will be looking to make an impact early. Suarez may give the three other teams issues, as he is strong and fast and is coming off the best season of his career after leading Liverpool to a near EPL title. Suarez was the best player in England and won numerous awards as he led the league in scoring and now he gets to do things on the World Stage.
Japan plays Zambia later on in the week and that will be another match for the team to prepare for the World Cup with. Japan's group is no easy draw either, as they are playing against Greece as well as the Ivory Coast and the Colombian side and that should be a very tough group to get out of. No one has a group like the United States, as Team USA will play against Germany, Portugal and Ghana in the so called group of death. Cristiano Ronaldo is in the group and the Ghana team is the group that eliminated the US in the World Cup in 2010 and 2006.
The Costa Rican team is coming in with high expectations and they will have to deal with a big loss, as Alvaro Saborio will be out for the World Cup and he was coming as one of the best goal scorers for the team in the tournament. Jorge Luis Pinto has to figure out how to replace that scoring after the star scored 32 goals over 90 appearances for his nation and now the team is looking to bounce back with a nice friendly performance here ahead of the tournament. Costa Rica has had a rough road, as they lost to Australia, Chile and South Korea without scoring and that will be a main issue now for the team.
Check here for the Costa Rica and Japan live coverage for the World Cup friendly match before the Brazil 2014 tournament.