Mexico vs. Japan: Storylines to Follow in Anticipated Matchup

Having both lost to Brazil and Italy, there is no hope for Mexico or Japan to advance to the knockout stage of the Confederations Cup. That means their group-play match on Saturday doesn't have any ramifications as far as the tournament is concerned, but it should be an intriguing battle nonetheless.

Mexico and Japan are arguably the best teams in the CONCACAF and Asian regions, respectively, and many consider them to be potential dark horses when it comes to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Each team has an opportunity to head in the right direction with the World Cup just one year away, so they'll both want to come out on the winning end.

Here are the three biggest storylines to watch as El Tri and Samurai Blue go head-to-head prior to their exit from the Confederations Cup.

Jose de la Torre Under Siege

Although Mexico's players and fans would love to beat Japan on Saturday, perhaps nobody wants a win more desperately than Mexican manager Jose de la Torre. While de la Torre has only managed Mexico since 2011, supporters of the team already seem to be disenchanted. Despite Mexico's rocky play as of late, Mexican star Chicharito says that the players are in full support of de la Torre, according to Goal.com:

That may be true, but the players don't make the ultimate decision.

Aside from a dominant win in the 2011 Gold Cup, de la Torre's tenure has been less than impressive. Mexico lost a friendly match to the rival United States last year at Estadio Azteca and could only muster a draw at home against Team USA in World Cup qualifying. In fact, wins have been incredibly hard to come by in 2013.

Across all forms of international play in 2013, the Mexican senior national team has just one victory. That was a close 1-0 decision against Jamaica in World Cup qualifying. Mexico is just third in CONCACAF in qualifying at the moment, and it hasn't shown many flashes of brilliance.

If Mexico leaves Brazil without a win in the Confederations Cup, de la Torre's seat will get even hotter.

Can Mexico Find the Back of the Net?

Struggling to win and struggling to score goals are two things that usually go hand in hand when it comes to soccer. That is the case for Mexico, as El Tri is currently at a loss on the offensive end of the spectrum. While the Mexicans have actually performed fairly well from a defensive perspective, they aren't going to win many matches at the rate that they're scoring.

Mexico has just one goal through two Confederations Cup matches, as Chicharito scored on a penalty kick against Italy. El Tri simply can't find the back of the net, and it has to be frustrating—to the fans especially. Through six World Cup qualifying matches, four of them have ended in a 0-0 draw. At this point, a 0-0 draw against Japan would probably look pretty good to Mexico and its supporters, though.

Even if Mexico is unable to win this match, scoring a couple goals could be key to the team's confidence moving forward. Mexico is mired in an awful slump from a goal-scoring perspective, so seeing the ball cross the line is something that El Tri desperately needs in order to start moving in the right direction.

Will Japan Continue Its Positive Momentum?

After getting thrashed 3-0 by Brazil to open the Confederations Cup, Japan knew that it needed to perform much better against Italy. Despite the fact that Italy came away with a 4-3 win, Japan looked much better and was dangerous on the attack throughout the match. If Samurai Blue are able to play the same offensive game against Mexico as they did against Italy, there is little doubt that they will emerge victorious on Saturday.

Japan became the first team to qualify for the 2014 World Cup after host Brazil a few weeks ago, so there won't be much pressure on the Asian side over the next year. It will play several friendlies and will simply look to fine-tune its game while finalizing its roster.

Since Japan cannot move on to the knockout stage in the Confederations Cup, it can treat this match just like a friendly. That means both teams are likely to play with reckless abandon more so than they normally would.

Japan boasts a myriad of dangerous attacking threats, including Shinji Okazaki, Shinji Kagawa, Keisuke Honda and many more. If they push the pace and link up with each other often, Japan could put up a big number on Saturday.

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