uyeah the first half wasn't great. seemed we just wanted to protect our lead and not take any risks while Colombia were happy to just sit back. Nishino must have told htem to go for it at half time
I think both teams and managers struggled to make sense of a wholly anomalous situation after the sending off. You get the sense both teams would have been content with Japan passing the ball around the back and going into halftime up 1-0, but Pekerman decided he needed to plug the hole left behind in midfield and that Cuadrado was expendable, having struggled against Nagatomo to that point. Evidently this paid off with Colombia controlling the rest of the 1st half and benefiting from Nagatomo's botched clearance, Falcao's flop, and the miscommunication/bad read on a well-taken free kick. Nishino did well with his halftime adjustments and Japan stopped messing around, sapping Colombia's stamina and willingness to press. Pekerman handed them a gift by bringing on an immobile James, while Nishino countered with the double-edged sword of an equally static Honda - but one whose recent marksmanship from corners at Pachuca made the difference. This was obviously a big result and plenty of individual credit can and should be doled out, but there was still something to be desired in terms of savviness and organization. Senegal will be an altogether different picture.
LOL. Honda and James Rodriguez as handicap for their respective teams instead of their best player. Time passes with no mercy.
Great game, I was watching the game in an german Sportsbar. Was a pleasure to watch. Inui was outstanding, Kagawa was genius and Osako steal the attitude from Okazaki this evening =). Haraguchi realy impressed me, his agressive fighting spirit and defensive ability was pure joy. He was a beast. Did anybody has the japanese highlights of the game with japanese commentators please =) ?
This video shows highlights and people at the Tokyo Dome watching. It's sad but there are clearly far less people than there were at previous World Cups for the public viewing.
The consensus here in Scotland (from me and my dad) was that Nagatomo and Inui were the standouts. Poor first half performance which I put down to a lack of belief and nerves. Excellent second half with loads of belief and pressure so the manager has to take credit for that. Hopefully he can figure out how to put his earpiece on now (I will keep making this joke until he gets it right)
i can tell you first hand the colombia game has reinvigorated the japanese fans, especially a temporary relief for those affected by the earthquake. many just wanted to see some heart and passion. the team is not perfect but who cares, as long as they fight for ninety minutes.
James is still young. But he was a bit injured otherwise he would've started. Risky move that almost paid off if not for that osako block
Japan will be lucky to even draw against Senegal imo. Senegal's attacking line-up are too strong, they are very good at counter-attacks. Japan need to keep possession as much as possible and also work on defending set-pieces. Senegal players are extremely physical. And like I said, maybe send someone to man-mark Mane(maybe Makino). As for Poland, I am not that sure how they are. I thought they would win against Senegal with players like Lewandowski and Krychowiak, etc.
Yes I agree with you. Senegal is a much more impressive and complete team than Colombia. Against Colombia one great 2nd half was enough to beat them but against Senegal you can not play the way Japan played against Colombia in the first half. Senegal is much more dangerous and will take advantage
After that opening win, I'm back to low expectations. That game would have been much different if Japan weren't a man up for almost the whole game.
Different sure but at 3rd minute it would have been Colombia 0 Japan 1 anyway. Plus: Colombia played the game offensively, they were 1 man less in defence not in attack, and despite this they scored only by (wrong called) set piece with the help of Eiji. I can't remember a single save by Kawashima amd only one deflected shoot by Osako on Rodriguez despite the colombians had the ball the majority of time and, I repeat, being NOT 1 less man when offending. Senegal will be a tough opponent with some formidable athletes and any set piece or counter will be a mortal threat BUT give our guys some credits and try to have some (moderately high) expectation from this fascinating match.
It can be very difficult to break down a team with ten men despite the fact you will probably have a lot more possession. They will park players behind the ball and try tonight on the break. Nonetheless it happened Sono point on dwelling on what would have hapoehap if it didnt. It doesn't matema, would have been a completely different game and we have no idea how it could have gone
True but it's different when that other team is behind 1-0 though. This wasn't like Japan - Greece. I remember a moment in the first half when Japan was just passing the ball around in defense like being at the park. Anyway, 5 hours to go!
Finally got around to watching this. The BBC announcers are totally in the bag. My god after the red card is there some flopping and theatrics from the Colombians. Losing a lot of respect for them. You traded a man on the pitch to get a 2nd chance at stopping a penalty... suck it up and own it. #17 acting lke he got shot by a sniper. Speaking of which... Osako did very well on that counter attack. His finishing isn't clinical, but the more I see the more I like. Kagawa very active early on -- thinking Senegal gameplanned him today. Inui wastes a great ball from Kagawa -- but he made up for it today. Nagatomo looks cagey early on. Colombia just has so much quality in attack. A man down and 60-40 possession against a team that loves possession? And the game slows way down at 20min. Hasebe and Inui not on the same page. #17 fouls Haraguchi and then playacts again... disgusting. This is what Colombia does? Trash. I feel like there should be a penalty timeout box for diving like that. If you're fake hurt, you can go sit in a corner next to your goal keeper for 5 minutes. Osako missed that one by a mile -- got to at least make the keeper do something. Falcao with the theatrics now. Yes, you got fouled. Just get back up. No reason to flop around 20 times. And immediately followed by Falcao diving in the box... and then a blatant dive for the foul on the edge of the box. I was wondering how they got the 1 goal... now I know, diving for set pieces. Even the announcer states Hasebe should have got the call. Lost all respect for Colombia here. On the other hand feels like watching the maturation of Shoji, Shibasaki, and Inui at international level.
Osako with a good spin and on target at least. Inui sooo close. Can just see his confidence and chemistry growing. By 65 it's starting to feel like Greece all over again... tons of possession and some chances, but nothing going in. Kagawa so close to a great 1-2 with Inui. And then Inui almost feeds Naga through. Honda coming in for Kagawa... feels predetermined. I hate these kind of subs. Kagawa was killing it, leave him in. Sub Haraguchi. Great sequence from Shibasaki, Inui, Osako, Honda, and Sakai... just deflected. And that's the corner Honda->Osako. I hate how the BBC announcers downplay this. As if Japan didn't earn that red card and penalty. While Colombia had to cheat their way into the set piece goal. It is a legit upset that Osako got behind their best defender in the first couple minutes and forced a handball. And here we go with the I̶t̶a̶l̶i̶a̶n̶ Colombian diving again. Nagatomo with a save. James almost makes them pay for that sloppy defense - Osako with the crucial deflection. Hasebe should've just punted it out instead of trying to get fancy. Shibasaki out. Sakai and Osako practicing on crosses. Sanchez gets away with a foul there imo.. and Osako feeling it. Okazaki on a couple minutes later. James gets a yellow... frustrated foul on Haraguchi. This is where Japan is best. Just play keep away in the middle 2/5ths of the pitch. Triangles. Triangles everywhere. Kawashima left that a bit late. A bit cagey here. #17 fouls Haraguchi, who is just getting abused in the last 10 minutes here... then dives and rolls around some more. Falcao offsides ends the danger. Honda fouled. Colombia getting bitter and sloppy in their well earned defeat. And back to keep away... until Yoshida punts it away for no reason -_- Both sides getting away with some sloppy tackling. Finally Inui gets the call. And back to keep away... what on earth did Kawashima get a yellow for ? Nagatomo is just everywhere... brilliant. And that's game, blouses.