Fans are treated to another "historic upset" moment at the World Cup.
Japan has stunned Germany on Wednesday, November 23, defeating the four-time winners 2-1 in an amazing Group E match, and now it is also considered another notable upset win in World Cup history.
This comes a day after Saudi Arabia's shock defeat of Argentina.
Japan vs Germany
Germany dominated the match most of the time but failed to take advantage of their situation, as Japan caused the Khalifa International Stadium to erupt into a mix of celebration and astonishment.
Germany, who finished last of their group in Russia in 2018, had missed many chances to widen their lead when the score was 1-0.
lkay Gundogan, from Manchester City, gave Germany the lead as he scored from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute. However, Japan made a brilliant comeback in the second half, all thanks to substitutes Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano, who both play for German clubs.
Ritsu Doan, who plays for German team Freiburg, equalized in the 75th minute with a rebound, giving Japan the chance to set up a famous winning goal against the strong Germany.
Takuma Asano, who plays for German team Bochumm, sprinted clear of Nico Schlotterbeck and beat Manuel Neuer from a narrow angle in the 83rd minute.
Germany outplayed Japan for most of the match with 24 attempts on goal compared to Japan's 11. Japan goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda made a series of saves and was named Player of the Match.
Historic Win for Japan
This was the first time that Japan has ever won a World Cup match.
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said after they won:
"I believe it's a historic moment, a historic victory, to say the least. If I'm thinking of the development of Japanese football, we have been building.
From the start we decided to be aggressive; however Germany's aggression was higher. This was no surprise for us. However our squad was very intelligent, they were smart and played well persistently. They fought really hard."
Germany coach Hansi Flick said:
"With this defeat and zero points, we are under pressure, no question about it. And we can only blame ourselves. We were on the right path in the first half, we had 78 per cent possession and were ahead 1-0. Then we had good chances in the second half that we didn't take advantage of.
Japan was simply more efficient today. We made mistakes that we should never commit especially in a World Cup and those are the things that we need to improve on."
A Match of Firsts
This was the first meeting between Japan and Germany.
This was the first time that Japan has ever won a World Cup match.
Japan has appeared in its seventh straight World Cup and is vying to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.
As for Germany, this year at the World Cup was their first time to play since their shocking group-stage exit as defending champion in Mexico (2018).
This matchup with Japan was only the third time they lost their tournament-opening game after they lost against Algeria (1982).
In other World Cup openers for Germany, the team had won 13 matches and drawn four.
Things are only getting started at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022!
On Sunday, Germany will face stiff opposition in Group E with 2010 champions Spain, while Japan shall be up against Costa Rica next.
Who's your favorite team to win this year's World Cup?
Source:
https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/articles/germany-japan-group-e-world-cup-qatar-2022-match-report-asano-doan-gundogan
https://www.foxsports.com/stories/soccer/world-cup-2022-top-plays-germany-japan
Image: Getty Images
