Japan in a wild World Cup frenzy: After beating Germany, the national team also celebrates a sensational success against Spain and thus moves into the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar as the group's first (!). Croatia is waiting there.
The next sensational turning point for reaching the round of 16: Japan shocked the Spaniards in the World Cup group final and sent Germany home. At 2: 1 (0: 1), Freiburg's Ritsu Doan (48th) and Düsseldorf's Ao Tanaka (51st) turned the game around. The Japanese only ran after the ball and their opponents for a half.
As in the 2-1 win against Germany at the start, national coach Hajime Moriyasu ushered in the win during the break, which takes Japan to the top of the group and in Monday's knockout round against runners-up Croatia. Alvaro Morata (11th) gave Spain the lead with his third goal of the tournament. Second in Group E, the 2010 World Champion meets Morocco on Tuesday.
"We don't want to regret anything!" Coach Moriyasu had humbly announced a big fight in Japanese before the group final, but he wouldn't have had cause for loud noise anyway. After the surprise against Germany, the 1-0 draw against Costa Rica dampened the euphoria noticeably.
Tactically, Moriyasu returned to the winning system and brought on five new players - as did Spain coach Luis Enrique. Remaining in the game were "Germans" Ko Itakura (Mönchengladbach), Daichi Kamada (Frankfurt), Maya Yoshida (Schalke) and Tanaka, small names compared to Spain's "wonder children" Gavi and Pedri, who were allowed to continue spinning - protected by Sergio Busquets.
However, the veteran frittered away the ball in front of 44,851 spectators after eight minutes and gave Junya Ito the first chance of the game, but the damper followed quickly. Morata headed in a cross from Cesar Aziplicueta. Spain controlled the action - Japan had to hope for mistakes, but in the first half there was obviously no belief that they could disturb the favorites in their ball relay.
Moriyasu reacted at the break, bringing on Doan, who made Spain keeper Unai Simon look bad with a shot from the edge of the box. The 24-year-old, who moved to Freiburg from Eindhoven in the summer, had already scored against Germany. Second division player Tanaka (24) scored just three minutes later - and when the goal finally counted after being checked twice, some fans in the stands shed tears.
