Known as the Samurai Blue, Japan enters the 2010 World Cup looking to improve upon three consecutive lackluster performances in this tournament. However, just because this is a team that has succeeded in Asian Cups in years past doesn't mean that World Cup betting action is going to be a walk in the park, particularly in a very difficult Group E.

The easy part for the Japanese national team was just qualifying for this event. Four wins out of six matches against the weaker sides in their qualifying group erased the memories of just getting one point in two soccer betting affairs with the Aussies and was more than enough to get them into the 32 team field in South Africa.

Three of the teams' 23 goals scored in qualifying came from longtime F Shunsuke Nakamura. A national hero and the fifth highest scoring player in Japanese soccer history, Nakamura is going to be counted on to produce offense against a group that is going to feature a ton of goals.

The key for Japan is going to be to keep matches as ugly as possible. Scratching out a pair of 0-0 draws and a 1-0 victory has got to be the best type of scenario for this team, though finding a way to keep Cameroon, Denmark, and Holland down is going to be very, very difficult. The Samurai Blue are just outmatched in almost every facet of the game, and that's why they are +300 just to make it through to the next round, and why the World Cup odds are just about as long on them ( +25000 ) as they are for any other team in the field.