Nothing to fear for Belgium from jittery Japanese
THE manner of Japan’s progression to a last-16 match in Rostov suggests that Belgium need lose no sleep. The Japanese advanced while being monumentally booed by their own fans for a game of keep-ball in the last 10 minutes. They were a goal down — thanks to Jan Bednarek’s volley — but aware they were on course to progress having received fewer yellow cards than Senegal. This ignominy was compounded by manager Akira Nishino’s rambling defence of his strategy, in which he gave the distinct impression he was not sure it had been such a good idea in the first place. ‘I didn’t want any “what ifs”,’ he said. ‘I told the players not to do any yellow cards. I forced my players to do what I said.’ With Poland equally happy to neuter the game, they complied with the possession retention, to the indignation of their fans who followed this pitiful team around Russia. All told, there was an irony about Japan qualifying for ‘fair play’. Japan celebrated at the end and Nishino said of Belgium: ‘They are world-class. It’s a great challenge for us to be facing them and we have to prepare our team and strategy.’