It's no dream. Enjoy! I have to perform another dogeza to Moriyasu. Guy's the giant killer. ....Croatia have very tall players, and are giants in that and footballing sense. Why do I have a feeling Japan will defeat my homeland's best 11, next?
Asano probably ran 700 meters in 30 minutes? Ok, take him out at some point, Maeda I mean, but wait another 10' and ideally spare the world more Asano. Put in Minamino. Or Furuhashi. Or Osako. Ah, ok... well, Minamino.
Spain could not risk losing and speculating especially as Costa Rica went to lead. Anything could happen at that point.
Just like I expected, Spain is not a real challenging side as in the past, esp. with Busquets in the middle and without any decent forward in the front. @AKITOD , you see, I said that winning Spain is a reasonable possiblity, and it is the case now!!! Congrats Japan once again!!!!!!!!!!
Morocco beat Belgium 2-0 and Croatia were super lucky not to be down 2, 3 goals against Lukaku - and this Belgium team is a hollow shell of its former self. Don't mind the scoreline of the Canada-Croatia game, Canada were way out of their element and one of worst teams this WC - this is coming from a Canadian fan. Morocco could have put a couple more past Canada today and conceded their only goal of the tournament so far on a fluke OG. Spain have no reason to purposefully avoid Croatia and take on Morocco - and they didn't, they were totally going for it at the end. At least they know Croatia pretty well as an opponent. Japan just won against Germany and Spain this past week, and almost anybody would say those are stronger teams than Croatia. So I've no idea why people are writing them off already. -IF- they make it through Croatia though, then yes, Brazil stand in the way and it's very likely WC over, but still huge achievement.
That 2nd goal would be the topic of discussions for years to come, but I don't mind taking it lol, and it's karma for Germany for that Lampard goal in WC 2010
Could be. Morocco are the home team now as the only Arab team left. They are playing really well, too. Croatia can be deceiving so hard to tell.
A little crazy here: Japan will probably meet Brazil and Argentina on their road to the final (yes, I already think of the final for Japs). Brazil for sure is the real challenger here and many will readily assume that Japs would be over then. But looking back to Brazil’s performance vs Switzerland who has a rather similar defensive manner and style as Japs but whose front is not as good as Japs (with Mitoma, Ito, Doan, Asano and even Minamino), I suppose that Japs would do something beyond our common sense if Moriyasu would not ruin it like the match vs Costa Rica. OK, that’s for later dícussion if Japs defeat Croatia. Croatia is tougher than Spain, it will be tiring and exhausting for Japs.
Being the underdog worked out against Germany and Spain too so let the people write whatever they want, we profit!
Such a collective performance, all the spirit that was gone against Costa Rica was there all of sudden in the 2nd half. Still can’t believe it. Check out the interview with Nagatomo (doesn’t matter if you don’t understand Japanese), it says it all. BRAVO!! About the 2-1, I watched so many videos about the win in the meanwhile so I don’t remember which one it was… but there was a tv station that had a good pic of the correct angle (technically no angle), you could see the ball was just in. So valid goal. And people talking about Spain not going 100%, give me a break. Maybe in the last few mins when it was clear Germany would win, but you’re not gonna tell me they didn’t go full force before, knowing that they could be eliminated (and were for a few mins) if they didn’t at least get a draw. Japan won, simple as that.
I... I don't know what to say. Wow. This is one of the biggest upsets I have seen in my life. Not in my wildest dreams. Incredibly, incredibly proud of the team.
A quarter-final finish for any Asian team is almost equivalent to getting third place or being a finalist, it would be an incredible step forward. Except South Korea in 2002, no Asian team has managed to go beyond the round of 16.
Just keep tight and don't lost focus, although beating both Germany and Spain is incredible. Croatia is an experience team and they don't have the pressure to dominate possession or attack against Japan. If anything, they will play like Costa Rica if they need to.
Some facts now that I cooled off: > Itakura will miss Croatia. This means no 3CBs excpet if Tomi regain health or H.Ito play for 45-65' and then Tomi again; > Endo/Tanaka. Who to pair with Morita? Endo is sure the starter but Tanaka overperformed. Maybe again Tanaka till he's exausted and then Endo; > Kamada. It is beyond me how bad he was in the group stage with his team mates being at 150% most of time. We will see the real Kamada against Croatia? I hope so. > Kubo. As Kamada. Moriyasu will keep using him to give Mitoma the chance to play with the opponents tired but he was really useless for the whole time, not a shot, not a possible assist, not a phisical o speed match won. Please you were the chosen one, the wonderkid, this is the World Cup, the bigger audience ever, show something worthy. > Doan. As Honda in 2010, this is his special moment. Better to start him, he don't need tired opponents like Mitoma, give him 90' and profit before the time's up.
Congrats guys! Here's some footage from the match inside and a lot outside of the stadium... the winning goal is around the 3.19 mark. Good luck against Croatia! I actually think you take them given your energy and they're kind of an aging squad but we'll see....
Kamada is a real dissapointment yes, good god. Been top this season, but now totally useless. Endo should start if fit, also Tomi. But we dont know for sure, and maybe Moriyasu does not rate them enough? Doan and Mitoma looked amazing when they come on. Yoshida get alot of shite, but he did som crucial stuff tonight.
They have until Monday to prepare. I hope everyone will be available and ready by then. Croatia is not an easy opponent. I expect a close, cagey match. I'm content with this achievement so far even if they bow out against Croatia, at least they finally have broken the Curse!