Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium erupted for two reasons, Keiser Fuller’s 14-yard strike was too high for goalkeeper Shuichi Konda. Luis Fernando Suarez’s side were delighted to see not only the winner, but also their country’s first shot at Qatar in 2022. Spain lost 7-0.
Group E is wide open with Germany the only nation with zero points heading into Sunday night’s game against Spain, but this result is a solid fillip for them. Costa Rica Past.
In goal, Hidemasa Morita was Japan’s first offender, Yeltsin fed the ball to Tejeda, who found Fuller – Konda was the second Samurai Blue man because he was flat-footed. In late excitement Japan Brian Oviedo appealed for a penalty for the volley after Taichi Kamada’s shot but to no avail.
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A content Suarez said: “We’re alive, that’s the main thing. No one can say we’re out yet – we can still dream. It’s not about tricks, it’s about passion; the more pressure there is, the more we can prove ourselves. We died yesterday. – Now we are alive.
Hajime Moriasu’s side will need to regroup after them A seismic victory over Germany And the coach was asked if his side could shock Spain for a second time at the World Cup. “We’re going for the win,” he said. “We have beaten Germany, but that doesn’t mean we can win against Spain. Those countries are World Cup champions, so we have a lot of respect for them. But we won the match against Germany. Spain will be tough but we have a good chance to win. So We will prepare and go into the next match with confidence.
“Spain will be a very intense game. We must increase the odds for Japan. That’s how I decided on tactics [for today]. The result didn’t work out, but we tried, and I believe this is what Japan needs.
His strategy was against Germany – wait to attack Costa Rica with quick breaks. The problem was that this was Costa Rica’s tactic as well, resulting in a constant affair after false dawns when Morita and Yuki Soma claimed an early corner between them. The latter swung at this, Ayaz Ude missed a header and a shaky Costa Rica escaped.
120-cap Joel Campbell won a free-kick, but Japan’s man of the match against Germany Konda snatched Celso Borges’s ball out of the air.
Japan gave Costa Rica another scare when Ritsu Tone, who equalized against Germany, flashed the ball past Keylor Navas’ goal, but neither teammate was there.
From here quality flatlined in a haphazard midfield stand, illustrated by a 0-0 shots-on-target count at the interval, with neither team able to seize the initiative. While Francisco Calvo and Campbell were on target, these were lackluster efforts, so referee Michael Oliver’s addition of only a minute of time to the opening 45 fell into the “little mercy” category.
In the second half, Moriyasu decided Yuto Nagatomo and Ude had contributed enough, replacing them for Hiroki Ito and Takuma Asano, the latter of the memorable winner over Germany.
Navas saved a real shot on twenty-seven seconds: Morita was the player to finally find the target, and Japan were reminded just how good they were after half-time against the four-time world champions.
A Campbell style of dribbling, in which he carved a straight path with very little pressure on him, suggested his nation would not be better. The former Arsenal forward’s next entry on the match ledger was to balloon a 40-yard cross free-kick, and Soma did the same from the edge of the Costa Rican area when Wataru Endo was fouled.
Minutes later, in an almost identical spot, Calvo brought down Junya Ito as a substitute and this time Kamada was wasted, hammering the set piece into the wall.
Next came Fuller’s decisive intervention. It is, in fact, no match to remember, but each of the last two games will be live, allowing for an exciting conclusion.
