When losing benefits you

Japan isn’t the only one who benefited from a loss in the final group stage matches. England lost to Belgium but the loss meant it will avoid the bracket that has Uruguay, Portugal, Argentina, France and Brazil.

In one of the strangest moments of the World Cup this year, Japan decided to pass the ball around on the half court line with more than five minutes to go, while trailing Poland, 1-0, in their final group stage match.

After Jan Bednarek scored that 59th minute goal, Japan was headed for an exit so it was scrambling for an equalizer against a squad that was already eliminated. At 1-0 and with the other match at 0-0, Japan was headed for the exit.

But in the 74th minute, Colombia scored against Senegal in the other Group H match, making it the leaders of the group with Japan at second place by virtue of the Fair Play tie break. They were tied with Senegal in goal difference, goals scored and conceded, and only two yellow cards separated them.

So, what do you do with a berth in the round-of-16 of the biggest sporting event in sports at stake with only 10 minutes to go?

Go for an equalizer and risk conceding a goal in a counter-attack? Or stall the game and be assured that Colombia will protect its 1-0 lead because a Japan equalizer would eliminate them from the World Cup.

So, in one of the strangest moments I’ve seen in sports, Japan decided to pass the ball in their own half and curiously, Poland obliged. Heck, they were ahead already. There was a sub waiting to go in in the final minutes, perhaps a swan song for him in the World Cup but he never got to because Japan kept passing the ball in their backline.

It’s ironic that the reason the last matches of the group stage are held simultaneously is to avoid having one team the advantage of knowing its fate or knowing what it needs to do to make the knockout stage. But in the age of social media, that’s impossible, right?

So, after days of intense action in the World Cup, we were treated to a passing drill in the final minutes of Japan vs. Poland.

It was a risky gamble but it paid huge dividends for them. At least, they didn’t suffer the same fate a Man U a few years ago, who decided to stall in the final minutes to protect their lead in the Premier League only for Man City to steal the title with a last-minute goal.

Japan isn’t the only one who benefited from a loss in the final group stage matches. England lost to Belgium but the loss meant it will avoid the bracket that has Uruguay, Portugal, Argentina, France and Brazil.

Go figure.