A big surprise. A resounding feat. A surprising qualification, above all historical. Paper entry, certainly, dithyrambic, but oh so justified in view of the performance achieved by the Blue Samurai at the start of the 2022 World Cup. groupe where the first two places were promised to Spain and Germany, Japan, executioner of the Mannschaft (2-1), eliminated, and of Roja (2-1), has, in fact, spawned a way to first place, despite an unexpected setback against Costa Rica (0-1) on the second day. Never in its history, the Japanese selection had thus chained two consecutive qualifications in the round of 16 of a World Cup…
A happy ending recalling, to a completely different extent, the scenario of 2018 where Senegalese and Poles had their hair cut on the post by miraculous Japanese. Already convincing during its qualification course, the Japanese formation is thus in the process of consolidating its status as a great power in Asian football. Without a real very big star, Japan has, however, a balanced collective with several confirmed profiles. Tactically well in place, Hajime Moriyasu’s men showed their rigor throughout this group stage. Regardless of the system of play (a 4-4-2 against the Germans, a 4-2-3-1 against the Costa Ricans before opting for a 5-3-2 against La Roja), Takefusa Kubo’s teammates manage to build their success on a clearly identifiable model.
Japan, against all odds!
Well grouped together, compact collectively before exploding on the counter-attack, Japan thus advocates tricky football for the opponent. Its effectiveness is clinical. Symbol of this tactical model worked and assumed by Hajime Moriyasu, the Blue Samurai have almost never seen the ball against Germany and Spain. However, despite 269 small passes and 26.1% possession of the ball against Mannschaft then 228 transmissions and 17.7% possession against La Roja, the Japanese always knew how to wait for the opportune moment to spring up on the counter-attack. . All with the same efficiency. All with the same result. No matter these sequences – almost humiliating – emphasizing an inability to control the game against the greatest nations or this second disputed goal against the SpaniardsJapan wants to be pragmatic and the history of this World Cup proves it right.
Perfect illustration of this calculated wait-and-see attitude, the second goal scored by Takuma Asano against Hansi Flick’s men where the Bochum striker took advantage of a long ball from central defender, Ko Itakura, before concluding against Nico Schlotterbeck and Manuel Neuer . A seven-second action initiated by a free kick from sixty yards and ended with a shot full of composure. Clinical. In the same way as the service performed by these same Japanese against Spain. With 10 passes completed in the final third – 34 against the Mannschaft, 67 against Costa Rica – the Blue Samurai perfectly illustrated this trademark: suffer the events before stinging. As such, three of the four Japanese goals in this World Cup were also scored by substitutes. Even more telling statistics, against La Roja, Japan became the selection that won a match with the lowest ball possession rate in the history of a World Cup…
Advance to the knockout stage for two tournaments in a row⚽️#SAMURAIBLUE with
Let’s go see the new scenery of Japanese soccer!⏩NEXT
????FIFA #World Cup round 16
????️12/6 (Tue) 0:00 (????????)
???? Croatia ????????#jfa #daihyo #Japan national soccer team#over ties #new scenery 2022#worldcup #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/cFbzhortpK— Japan national soccer team ???????? (@jfa_samuraiblue) December 1, 2022
The scalp of the vice-world champions in the crosshairs
Symptomatic of a formation prepared to endure, the country of the Rising Sun has never seemed so in difficulty as when playing the game against Costa Rica. Unable to create an imbalance against the Ticos despite a favorable possession (57%), Daichi Kamada’s partners thus showed helplessness before being surprised by Keysher Fuller on a harmless occasion. Taken at their own game. Carried by his trio Brozovic-Modric-Kovacic and accustomed to putting his mark on the meeting, Croatia, Japan’s future opponent, is in any case warned. It now remains to be seen what Zlatko Dalic will decide in his tactical implementation to best disrupt the Blue Samurai. Last reminder for the band to Andrej Kramaric: a possible opening of the score of the Croats would, of course, give an advantage but would not open, yet, the doors of the quarter-finals. Far from it. Last Thursday, Japan became the third team in the history of the World Cup to win two matches after being behind at half-time in a single edition. The first two were none other than Brazil in 1938 and Germany in 1970…