Since 1991, the host nation, Japan, have won the tournament ten times, while the Czech Republic lifted the Kirin Cup once, back in 1998.
Three times in the history of the tournament the cup was shared by two teams that ended with the same exact record.
However, the tournament has never featured the three participants with the same scores, a possibility for this 2011 edition, should the third game as well end with the 0-0 tie.
Japan have played nine games with Zaccheroni at the helm, and have never been defeated.
The game in Yokohama will be the sixth away game in a row for the Czech Republic.
Japan occupies 14th place in the FIFA ranking, while the Czech Republic sit in the 32nd spot.
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Japan (3-4-3):
Kawashima; Makino, Konno, Inoha; Uchida, Hasebe, Endo, Nagatomo; Honda, Lee, Okazaki.
Hard to predict precisely who will be fielded by Alberto Zaccheroni, after the Italian manager made it clear that his main concern now is to try alternative solutions. There are speculations that he will feature his favourite 3-4-3, but this time with Atsuto Uchida and Yuto Nagatomo on the flanks.
The two will have to adapt to a different role from the one they usually occupy at Schalke 04 and Inter. Another player who might have to adapt to Zac's ideas is Akihiro Ienaga. We might see the Mallorca attacking midfielder in the second half to take Yasuhito Endo's spot in the midfield.
Czech Republic (4-5-1):
Cech; Kusnir, R. Hubnik, Rajnoch, Kadlec; Vacek, Trapp, Petrzela, Kolar, Fenin; Necid
Czech coach Michal Bilek has had to deal with injuries and the absence of many regular starters. In the previous game against Peru he in fact fielded five debutants, including Theodor Gebre Selassie, who has an Ethiopian father, and was the first black player ever to play for the top Czech Republic team.
Experimentation might forcibly continue for the Czech who, just as their Japanese counterpart, are using this tournament to prepare for competitive games coming later next autumn. Petr Cech is the veteran who will lead a group made mainly of inexperienced youngsters.
Prediction
Japan 1-1 Czech Rep. 
