Another WC shock, Japan edge Germany
Young Spain squad rout Costa Rica 7-0
DOHA, Qatar, Nov 23, (AP): Another World Cup day, another World Cup shock.
Substitutes Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano scored late goals Wednesday to give Japan a comefrom-behind 2-1 victory over Germany.
Both Doan and Asano play for German clubs.
“I believe it’s a historic moment, a historic victory. If I think about the development of Japanese soccer, thinking of players, for them this was a big surprise,” said Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu, who had five Germany-based players in his starting lineup and three, including the scorers, on the bench.
“They’re fighting in a very strong, tough, prestigious league. They’ve been building up their strength. In that context we believe that those divisions (Bundesliga and second division) have been contributing to the development of Japanese players,”
Moriyasu said. “I’m very grateful for that.”
Ilkay Gündogan had given fourtime champions Germany the lead with a first-half penalty. But Doan, who plays for Freiburg, pounced on a rebound to equalize in the 76th minute after Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer blocked a shot from Takumi Minamino.
Then Asano, who plays for Bochum, sprinted clear of Nico Schlotterbeck and beat Neuer from a narrow angle in the 83rd minute of the first competitive meeting between the two nations.
The match was played a day after Argentina’s 2-1 upset loss to Saudi Arabia.
Before Wednesday’s game, Germany’s players covered their mouths during the team photo in an apparent rebuke to FIFA following its decision to stop plans to wear armbands to protest discrimination in host nation Qatar.
It was only the third time Germany had lost their tournament-opening game after defeats against Algeria in 1982 and Mexico in 2018. In the other World Cup openers for Germany, the team had won 13 matches and drawn four.
Germany outplayed Japan for much of the match with 24 attempts on goal compared to Japan’s 11. Despite giving away the penalty for a clumsy challenge on left back David Raum, Japan goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda made a string of saves and was player of the game.
“We fought as a team,” Gonda said. “We have to make sure we never stop.”
Japan next play Costa Rica, while Germany face Spain on Sunday.
Germany were playing at the World Cup for the first time since their shocking group-stage exit as defending champions in 2018, while Japan are appearing in their seventh straight World Cup and are looking to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.
Spain’s young squad got off to a high-scoring start at the World Cup, routing Costa Rica 7-0.
Not long after Japan surprised Germany 2-1 in the other Group E match, Spain avoided any chance of an upset with Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio and Ferran Torres scoring a goal each in the first 31 minutes. Torres, Gavi, Carlos Soler and Álvaro Morata added to the lead in the second half.
Olmo’s goal was the 100th at World Cups for Spain, which became the sixth nation to score more than 100 times in the tournament.
It was the first time Spain has scored seven goals in a World Cup match.
With 18-year-old Gavi and 19-year-old Pedri starting, Spain became the first European nation with two teenagers in the starting lineup of a World Cup match in 60 years, according to statistics platform Opta.
Gavi then became the youngest goal scorer at the World Cup since Pelé in the 1958 final, also according to Opta.