Last Updated on 12/02/2022 by てんしょく飯
FIFA World Cup Qatar, Group E, Japan 2-1 Spain (Khalifa International Stadium)
The Japanese national soccer team beat the powerful Spain 2-1 to advance to the final tournament for the second consecutive World Cup (fourth time).
Japan needed to win in the first half to advance out of the group phase, but Ritsu Doan (24) equalized in the second half, and Ao Tanaka (24) scored the game-winning goal to complete a comeback victory following their loss to Germany.
Japan’s two big wins over Germany and Spain, which they had never beaten before, and their loss to Costa Rica gave them six points with two wins and one loss in the group league, and they overturned the odds to come out on top in Group E, which has been considered the most difficult in the past seven World Cups.
Japan will now face Croatia (second in Group F), the runner-up in the previous tournament, on December 6 (Japan time) for their first-ever appearance in the last eight.
The starters are Dainichi Maeda (25) up front, Junya Ito (29), Midori Tanaka (24), Daichi Kamata (26), Hidemasa Morita (27), Kanehide Kubo (21), Shogo Taniguchi (31), Maya Yoshida (34), Hiroshi Itakura (25), Yuto Nagatomo (36), Shuichi Gonda (33), goalkeeper. For the first time in this tournament, the team started with a 3-4-2-1 back three.
From the beginning of the match, the Spanish pace was strong. In attack, they toyed with Japan with their signature passing soccer, and when the ball was in Japan’s hands, they were aggressive defensively, not allowing any freedom. Even so, Japan made their mark in a difficult match, with Kubo dribbling into the right side of the goal and Ito firing a shot that missed to the right of the goal.
However, Morata headed in Azpilicueta’s cross from the right to put Spain ahead in the 11th minute of the first half. It was Morata’s third goal in a row.
Japan, looking to catch up, created chances with quick passing in the opposition zone, but failed to find the decisive moment. Spain continued to slowly connect the ball for a long period of time. Toward the end of the first half, Spain attacked and three center backs, Itakura, Taniguchi, and Yoshida received yellow cards, but they managed to defend with their physical play and ended the first half with a score of 0-1.
In the second half, Kaoru Mitomo (25) replaced Nagatomo, and Ritsu Doan (24) came on for Kubo. Three minutes into the second half, Ito’s physical defending allowed Doan to steal the ball, and he scored from the right side of the penalty area with a flash of his left foot that bounced off the keeper’s hands and into the net for the equalizer. Doan turned the tide with the equalizer against Germany.
Japan’s momentum was building, and six minutes into the second half, Doan put in a grander pass from the right side of the penalty area. Mitate turned it back just short of the goal line, and Tanaka jumped in and pushed it home with his body. A VAR check was conducted to see if the ball had crossed the goal line, but the goal was disallowed, and Japan was 2-1 up.
The rest of the match was a Spanish onslaught, but a tenacious defensive effort led by Yoshida preserved the one-goal lead.
In the other match between Germany and Costa Rica, Germany won 4-2. In Group E, Japan finished in first place with 6 points, and Spain finished in second place with 4 points and a goal difference of +6. Germany is in third place with 4 points and a goal difference of +1, and Costa Rica is in last place with 3 points.
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