Asia on the march as Japan stun favourites Germany
Moriyasu inspires comefrom-behind win
Doha – Late goals by substitutes Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano gave Japan an incredible 2-1 comeback victory over Germany in the World Cup yesterday in another emotional fillip for Asian soccer after Saudi Arabia’s shock win over Argentina.
Four-times champions Germany had looked to be cruising to a routine victory via Ilkay Guendogan’s first-half penalty but paid a fatal price for profligacy in front of goal.
The shock result was a repeat of their 2018 World Cup nightmare when, as defending champions, they lost their opener to Mexico and, after another defeat by South Korea, were condemned to an unheard of group-stage exit.
Japan had shown almost nothing in attack until a series of second-half substitutions injected some energy into their first competitive fixture against Germany.
Doan equalised in the 75th minute before Asano showed lovely control and smashed the winner in from a tight angle causing an explosion of joy among the Japan bench and head shaking among German fans used to watching both players ply their trade in the Bundesliga.
“We wanted to start playing aggressively, we wanted to dominate the game,” said Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu, whose second-half changes changed the whole feel of the game. “But Germany are very strong so we needed to defend persistently and take our chances.
“It’s a big surprise. We saw the Saudi victory over Argentina – the Asian countries are reaching the global standard.”
It was a turnaround that looked unlikely in the extreme as Japan struggled to get any foothold for most of a game played against the backdrop of Fifa’s threat of sanctions if German captain Manuel Neur wore a “OneLove” armband.
In response to that act of protest being effectively banned, the German team covered their mouths in a “silenced” gesture for their team picture. It was certainly a subdued atmosphere in the ground until Germany’s early dominance was rewarded when Joshua Kimmich picked out David Raum in acres of space in the box and goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda clumsily brought him down as he turned, with Guendogan dispatching the penalty in the 33rd minute.
“It is ludicrous that we are here with a defeat,” Germany striker Thomas Muller said after his team had 78.6% ball possession.