By Karolos Grohmann
DOHA (Reuters) – Japan’s Bundesliga players took matters into their ain hands successful their 2-1 comeback triumph implicit Germany successful Group E of the World Cup connected Wednesday, giving their opponents a sensation of their ain medicine.
In the days earlier the lucifer the Japanese waxed lyrical implicit the publication of Germany and its coaches for helping to make the crippled successful the state successful the decades aft World War Two.
But erstwhile they near the transportation astatine Doha’s Khalifa stadium arsenic sensational winners they had intelligibly outsmarted their teachers.
Strikes from Freiburg’s Ritsu Doan and VfL Bochum’s Takuma Asano, who struck from chap Bundesliga subordinate Ko Itakura’s heavy escaped kick, gave the Asians their archetypal ever triumph implicit Germany.
It was the 2 scorers, some substitutes, who woke their squad up from their archetypal fractional slumber.
In existent German tourney fashion, Japan refused to surrender adjacent aft a one-sided archetypal fractional successful which Germany had 16 efforts connected extremity and possession of implicit 70%. Japan won the crippled with conscionable 26% possession.
The instauration of Doan, nicknamed ‘the Japanese Messi’ and Asano successful the 2nd fractional lit up their crippled arsenic they hustled and turned the tables connected their opponents with precocious pressing and relentless enactment portion charging forward.
A full of 8 Japanese players successful the squad vie successful Germany’s apical 2 divisions and they brought backmost the close lessons learned there.
Their win, a effect of axenic determination and grit, had them punish their opponents for their lackadaisical attack to the game.
Even though helium was a 57th-minute substitute, scorer Asano had the shot successful the opponents’ container much times than each but 2 Germany players.
Germany volition beryllium asking themselves however they mislaid a crippled which should person been killed disconnected successful the archetypal fractional but they yet paid a beloved terms for their careless play and beneath par finish.
They utilized to punish opponents with their never-say-die cognition for decades but connected Wednesday they were connected the receiving extremity of precocious goals.
Japan continued to anticipation and aft goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda made a quadruple prevention to support them alive, they delivered the treble punch for yet different upset successful this tournament.
The Germans huffed and puffed but could not find a 2nd goal, with highly rated players similar Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz showing lone little glimpses of their skills and their known weakness successful defence erstwhile much blatantly obvious, particularly successful the winner.
At the extremity the Japanese proved arsenic determined arsenic their ain fans who did not halt singing implicit 90 minutes. The German fans were obscurity to beryllium seen oregon heard.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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