Asano creates slice of history
SAMURAI BLUE ENJOY THEIR GREATEST DAY TO STUN FLICK’S MEN
The German players put their hands over their mouths during the team photo before kick-off to make a point. At the end of 90 high-octane minutes, the footballing world followed suit.
Hansi Flick’s side wanted to make a stand over an anti-discrimination armband. Everyone else did so in astonishment.
Put simply, Japan enjoyed the greatest afternoon in their footballing history as they derailed the four-time world champions. Deserved? Well, the statistics do not tell a lie. Germany dominated for large chunks of this but the only one that truly matters is the scoreline.
That would have been especially sweet for Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu and his players because the domestic J-League has modelled itself on German football. But those whom the Japanese had placed on a pedestal were knocked off it in the rudest fashion.
The scenes of delight that greeted the final whistle showed the magnitude of the feat. In scenes reminiscent of the tumultuous Saudi Arabia triumph little more than 24 hours earlier, the substitutes and support
staff charged from the dugout to mob those in blue shirts who had given every last ounce of effort to create their slice of history.
For so long, Germany just needed to add to Ilkay Gundogan’s first-half penalty. In what was the only mistake in a game for which Japanese keeper Shuichi Gonda will doubtless dine out on in his dotage, he chased down a loose ball and made contact with David Raum.
Manchester City’s Gundogan slotted home with the minimum of fuss. The Samurai Blue adjusted their shape at the interval. It did not stem the flow of chances, but with Gonda making eight saves to thwart the 26 attempts on goal Flick’s men mustered, they remained in the game.
The equaliser was fashioned out of the Premier League. Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma came in from the right. Former Liverpool player Takumi Minamino darted in behind and squared. Germany keeper Manuel Neuer palmed it out and then substitute Ritsu Doan thumped home with 15 minutes left. The Khalifa Stadium erupted. You could feel the excitement bubbling away under the surface. It couldn’t happen again, could it? It did. Kou Itakura smashed a ball forward from a free-kick. Takuma Asano was onto it in a flash.
He brought it down beautifully, holding off Nico Schlotterbeck and thumped in. Just like in Russia four years ago when their campaign finished at the group stage amid recrimination and back-biting, Germany now have it all to do.
Manager Flick said: “We have made mistakes that you should never make in aWorld Cup.We must improve. We’re under pressure. We can only blame ourselves. We have to make sure we can come out of this.We need to be courageous.”
We must improve... we’re under pressure
GERMANY (4-3-3): Neuer 6, Sule 6, Rudiger 7, Schlotterbeck 5, Raum 6; Muller 6, (Hofmann, 67, 5) Kimmich 7, Gundogan 6, (Goretzka 67, 6) Musiala 6; (Goetze 80, 5) Havertz 5, (Fullkrug 80, 5) Gnabry 5 (Moukoko 90). Goal: Gundogan 33 pen.
JAPAN (4-2-3-1): Gonda 9, Sakai 6, (Minamino 74, 7) Itakura 6, Yoshida 7, Nagatomo 6 (Mitoma 57 ,7); Tanaka 7 (Doan 71, 7), Endo 6; Ito 6, Kamada 6, Kubo 5; (Tomiyasu 46, 7) Maeda 5 (Asano 57, 8). Goals: Doan 75, Asano 83.