A "never say die" attitude saves Japan from defeat

After 50 minutes of the game between the Netherlands and Japan, football fans were in dismay. It was expected that there will be games in this tournament in which quality would be doubtful due to the lack of quality of the teams, but nobody expected that the match between Holland and Japan would be in that category. And yet that was exactly the case as both teams cancelled each out in a game with a few chances. And then Virgin Van Dijk opened the scoring which turned the game in totally different direction. After 90 minutes, we can finally say we saw a proper World Cup game – with tempo, chances, great goals and excitement.

The Netherlands have not been beaten in a WC group game since 1994, and they haven’t lost tonight either, but allowed a late goal as Japan managed to secure a deserved draw – 2:2. Both teams had their moments and their chances so this result is a fair one, but when a nation like the Netherlands wants their team to reach semi-final, a win is needed in a group stage. Oranje took the lead twice but where twice denied as Japan players were relentless as always. All four goals were excellent but Ronald Koeman won’t be pleased that the equalizer came from a header. The Netherlands shouldn’t have conceded a goal like that, considering that Japan had only one player who was above 1.87 meters. Out of the four goals scored, three game from the players in the Premier League – Van Dijk, Summerville and Kamada.

The start of the game looked really promising since it was Malen who created a great chance after only four minutes. Gakpo passed the ball to the Roma forward, who showed great strength to spin his man inside the box and unleashed a thunderbolt of a shot that Zion Suzuki brilliantly pushed to safety. But after that – nothing. There were only three more chances in the first 45 minutes, and Malen created another one for Netherlands, but Suzuki was there again. As for Japan, they created their two opportunities at the end of the half. Summerville misjudged the flight of the ball, allowing it to reach Nakamura, who controlled it before firing a shot just wide of the near post. Just a minute later, Ueda rattled it after connecting with a volley from a difficult angle. Basically, the story of the first half was a story of two teams cancelling each other out.

Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk prevented the second half to be as boring as the first one with a fantastic header, which went in just inches near the post in the 51st minute, forcing Japan to try to equalize. And that’s exactly what happened six minutes later, when Ligue 2 Reims’ player Keito Nakamura caught Netherlands’, defense sleeping and equalized with a great shot. But Ronald Koeman’s side were not to be denied and West Ham’s Summerville scored a beauty in the 64th minute for the lead and eventual win. Both teams had their chances but it was Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada who eventually managed to find a net with a great header, overjumping none other than Van Dijk and secured a valuable point for Japan.

WORLD CUP - GROUP STAGE

First round

Thursday, 11.06.

Mexico - S.Africa 2-0 (1-0)

/Quinones 9, Jimenez 67/

Friday, 12. 06.

South Korea - Czech Republic 2-1 (0-0)

/Hwang In Beom 67, Oh Hyeon-Gyu 80 - Krejci 59/

Canada - B&H 1-1 (0-1)

/Larin 78 - Lukic 21/

Saturday, 13.06.

USA - Paraguay 4-1 (3-0)

/Bobadilla 7 og, Balogun 31, 45+5, Reyna 90+8 - Mauricio 73/

Qatar - Switzerland 1-1 (0-1)

/Khoukhi 90+4 - Embolo 17 pen/

Sunday, 14.06.

Brazil - Morocco 1-1 (1-1)

/Vinicius 42- Saibari 21/

Haiti 0-1 Scotland (0-1)

/McGinn 29/

Australia - Turkey 2-0 (1-0)

/Irankunda 27, Metcalfe 75/

Germany - Curacao 7-1 (3-1)

/Nmecha 6, Schlotterbeck 38, Havertz 45+3(p), 88, Musiala 47, Brown 68, Undav 78 - Comenencia 21/

Netherlands - Japan 2-2 (0-0)

/Van Dijk 51, Summerville 64 - Nakamura 57, Kamada 88/

Monday, 15.06.

02.00: (3.60) Ivory Coast (2.90) Ecuador (2.30)

05.00: (2.00) Sweden (3.35) Tunisia (4.00)

19.00: (1.10) Spain (9.50) Cape Verde (27.0)

22.00: (1.70) Belgium (4.00) Egypt (4.75)