Another upset just happened in the Qatar world cup. Japan, the powerhouse of Asia, just smashed the four times world cup winner, Germany. Despite conceding an early goal, Japan successfully returned two goals to beat Germany.
Match Report
In Group E, Germany faced Japan at the Khalifa International Stadium. In this match, the German boss Hensi Flick set up the team formation with 4-2-3-1. Kai Havertz played as the center-forward for Germany. Thomas Muller, Jamal Musiala, and Serge Gnabry played behind the striker. However, Japan’s boss also played his team in the same formation as Germany did.
Japan is no exception to the trend of comparatively weak teams dominating giants in the World Cup. From the beginning of the match, Japan tried to find the net. But Germany eventually took control and started dominating the Asian giant. They created some crucial chances in the first half but failed to score a goal.
Japan were struggling to stop the German attackers. Moreover, Japan’s goalkeeper fouled Joshua Kimmich inside the box. Therefore, Germany got a penalty kick in the 31st minute. Ilkay Gundogan stepped forward to take the shot and made no mistake. As a result, Germany went 1-0 up in the first half.
Returning from the break, Japan looked more organized on the field. Their midfielders kept passing the ball into the final third. Finally, Japan found the equalizer as their striker Ritsu Doan scored a stunning goal in the 75th minute.
Scoring the equalizing goal, the Japanese became extremely motivated. They literally dominated the four times world champion in the final twenty minutes. As a result, Japan scored a shocking goal in the 83rd minute. Takuma Asano, who came off the bench in the 57th minute replacing Daizen Maeda, scored that goal with a fantastic finish.
After that, the Germans had gone crazy to find the equalizer. They highly pressed the opponents in the final five minutes as well as the injury time. But their luck was not in their favor. Besides, Japan’s goalkeeper was superb between the goalposts. He made some incredible saves in the final moments. As a result, Japan successfully kept the lead until the last and made another upset in the world cup by defeating Germany.