When Junya Ito and Hiroki Sakai missed Japan’s best chance after 73 minutes, it seemed that Japan would be another AFC team that start Qatar world cup with a defeat. But,10 minutes later, they were another Asian side that astonished a tournament favorite.
Japan pulled of a stunning upset victory against Germany as two late goals of Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano secured a first-ever win for the Samurai Blue against the world powerhouse.
In a packed Khalifa stadium, there wasn’t voices louder than a group of Japanese fans who cheered Hajime Moriyasu’s men for the whole 90 minutes and became Japan’s 12th player at the end.
They sang “ohhhh Vamos Nippon” passionately to encourage their side that had less than 100 accurate passes in the first half but scored twice in eight minutes in the second.
But before this heroic eight minutes, it was Shuichi Gonda’s super saves that absorbed the most applause. The German TV ZDF group who were sitting in front of me in the Media tribune got up several times but they never celebrated for the second time.
For the Germans this match was a reminiscence of where they ended in Russia. They lost against South Korea in Kazan and were eliminated from the tournament and now another shocking defeat against an Asian powerhouse put them under the sword.
After the final whistle, Moriyasu and his players rushed to pitch side to thanks their fans as they know if they want remain in Qatar for longer time need them, their 12th player.
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