As of today (although that could change if Morocco wins) just Croatia has more semifinal appearances than every non UEFA and CONMEBOL country...
Didn't it happen last World Cup when Japan benched a lot of their starters against Poland, and it almost cost them a spot in the last 16?
https://japantoday.com/category/fifa-world-cup-2022/soccer-moriyasu-defends-decision-making-after-limp-japan-showing Moriyasu defends decision making.
I'm imaging a scenario where Spain beat Japan and Costa Rica scrape a 0-0 draw against Germany, which would send Costa Rica through.
Germany and Spain draw, which means Japan would have already secured a spot in the Round of 16 if they didn't blow their chance. Why did the coach...
No. Japan's defending isn't good enough to handle them.
4 AFC teams winning a World Cup game is unprecedented. CAF and CONCACAF never had a World Cup where 4 of their teams won a game.
I saw a Canadian flag!
Yeah I feel like Japan would have a close game against Brazil.
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Somehow this had made me feel much better about Japan's loss.
Everytime the when the quarterfinals start I don't care about any of the teams remaining.
I think he would be great as an assistant or head of youth development because he discovered many players for the USA. He what failed in was that...
http://www.espn.com/soccer/japan/story/3556393/japan-courting-jurgen-klinsmann-south-korea-deny-luiz-felipe-scolari-links Another article talking...
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/8w0x27/maradona_on_england_vs_colombia_i_saw_a/e1ru42j/ 100 plus upvotes for this? Edit: Here's the full...
Bunch of European teams. Boring.
If Iran were leading 2-0 against Belgium with 20 minutes left I think they would have held on. Japan's defense is not as strong as Iran's.
The third time in the Round of 16 certainly wasn't the charm.
LOL we all know the cycle from here. Japan will enter the next World Cup with higher expectations and end up falling in the group stage.
Maybe right now, but I'm more confident about the USA's future.
Okada Japan was the only time that Japan were good defensively at a World Cup, that's why 2010 is my favourite Japanese performance at the World Cup.
I'm not upset about the decision to go for it at the end. The Japanese players were tiring and momentum was clearly on Belgium's side, it was just...
I hear people say before that Japan could be better with some gamemanship, but we can happy that they are often about fair play.
It's not the fact they lost, it's that they blew a 2-0 second half lead.