With a great performance in the second half of the match played at the Khalifa International Stadium, in Doha, Japan defeated Spain by 2-1 and secured qualification for the round of 16 of the Qatar Cup. With this result, the Japanese team advanced, this Thursday (1), as the first place in Group E. Another famous Japan win sees them top a wild Group E 🇯🇵@adidasfootball | #FIFAWorldCup — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 1, 2022 Thus, in the next phase, the team led by coach Hajime Moriyasu will measure forces with Croatia, current world runner-up, who ended their participation in Group D in second place after goalless draw with Belgium on Thursday. This is the fourth opportunity in which the Blue Samurai have surpassed the group stage of a World Cup in seven appearances. Despite the defeat, the Spaniards managed to advance with the second position of the key. Thus, Fúria will take on the first place in Group D, Morocco, in the round of 16. The Spanish team started the match maintaining the style of play for which it became famous, valuing ball possession and exchanging passes in order to seek the best opportunity to attack. And the first chance to score was precisely for Spain, when midfielder Busquets took advantage of the ball that was hit wrongly by the Japanese defense to kick dangerously in the 5th minute. Two minutes later, the Japanese team managed to steal a ball in Spain’s area and, after exchanging passes, full-back Ito narrowly missed the target. However, the dominance really belonged to Furia, who opened the scoring after 10 minutes. After the ball circled close to the Japanese goal, Azpilicueta dominated on the right and crossed to the middle of the area, where Morata rose to test and overcome goalkeeper Gonda. With this goal, the striker started to share the artillery of the World Cup in Qatar, with a total of 3 goals, alongside the Ecuadorian Enner Valencia, the Englishman Rashford, the Dutchman Gakpo and the Frenchman Mbappé. The Headmaster #ESP pic.twitter.com/5BqCyHYtL8 — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 1, 2022 At 22 minutes, Spain arrived again with danger, with a shot by Morata that was saved by Gonda. Other than that, very little happened in the remainder of a first half in which the Spanish team reached a total of 79% possession to dominate the actions. In return for the final stage, Japan returned with two changes, Mitoma in place of Nagatomo and Doan in place of Kubo. And these substitutions were fundamental for the new posture of the Japanese team in the match. After just 2 minutes, Japan put pressure on the Spaniards’ defense and the ball fell to Doan, who hit it from the edge of the area to score a great goal. The goal shook Spain, who were stunned by the Japanese attack, which fitted in a counter-attack in the fifth minute. Doan received it on the right, crossed to the left, where Mitoma anchored to the middle of the area, where Tanaka didn’t forgive. This team never give up #JPN#FIFAWorldCup | #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/DIYnasSwXA — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 1, 2022 However, the referee stopped the game to assess with the VAR (video referee) a possible irregularity in the bid. After a five-minute break, the goal was awarded. From then on, Spain even tried to take control of the actions again, but their offensive actions proved ineffective against a Japan that defended very well and came out quickly in counterattacks, managing to hold the victory until the referee’s final whistle.
Agência Brasil
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