Japan's super-sub Doan aims to sink Croatia

The poor Croats will be biting their nails when they see Doan warming up to come on in the second half , that's for sure! A genuine game changer for Moriyasu-Japan.

3-1 to the Samurai-Blue - Doan to score another screamer!

Talks alot this guy.

In case you are forgetting, Croatia was the team that reached the finals back in 2018 World Cup.

I am not sure why Japanese are expecting Croatia to be easy.

Seems a bit overconfident for a guy not even good enough to be a starter

Great that Doan is making his mark.

*In case you are forgetting, *Croatia was the team that reached the finals back in 2018 World Cup.

And this is football. Anybody can win on their day, and past World Cup results usually have no bearing on future results. Croatia is good, but so are Spain and Germany, and nobody expects any of these teams to be easy, and if you think Japan doesn’t have a chance against Croatia based on previous tournaments then South Korea certainly won’t win their next game either.

Don't know nuttin' 'bout soccer 'cept that I'm very much enjoying this tournament.

Talks alot this guy.

Talks a lot and is overly enthusiastic with his words it's rather cringe. Oh and the constant flip flopping.

Seems a bit overconfident for a guy not even good enough to be a starter

Nagatomo starts and he's not very good. He keeps passing it to the opposition. None of Japan's starting strikers have looked like scoring either. Maeda had a great opportunity against Germany but didn't hold his run and ran offside.

*Today  08:57 am JST “ In case you are forgetting, *Croatia was the team that reached the finals back in 2018 World Cup.

*I am not sure why Japanese are expecting Croatia to be easy. **“*

Croatia is not that Croatia anymore; everything’s possible; the real problem is waiting for them in the quarterfinals(!) (J-players won’t be so cocky then); fans of Captain Tsubasa will go crazy when Japan faces Brazil; unfortunately, reality is a “little bit“ different.

> Samit BasuToday 08:57 am JST

In case you are forgetting, Croatia was the team that reached the finals back in 2018 World Cup.

> I am not sure why Japanese are expecting Croatia to be easy.

Humble arrogance is what I call it and I see it a lot. It's usually followed by a huge comeuppance.

@erik

Agreed. Looks so tacky

… look at the amount of downvotes to my previous post…; I’m just being realistic but… yes, in football, you never know…; … would love to see Japan meet SK btw (!) (!) (!)

I hope Senegal beat England today and make the media cry.

seanwd20

I hope Senegal beat England today and make the media cry.

of course, you do. Can't change the spots on a donkey.

Nov. 26

England are going to crash out of the group stages since they got “lucky” when the Iranian goalkeeper was injured.

I hope Senegal beat England today and make the media cry.

The media in Japan?

LOL it’s coming home, more like you’re all going home!

Posts wishing Doan well and congratulating him on his hard-earned acclaim get downvoted here lol

If someone like Conor MacGregor trash talks about an opponents religion and family people lap it up but when a Japanese sportsman expresses confidence and enthusiasm to go for it he is branded as talking too much, that is hilarious.

It was cockiness that lost Japan the game to Costa Rica, don't forget, with even commentators talking about how "unscary" the match against them was.

Double plus exciting matches ahead, even my partner is enjoying watching the footy. Sadly we can’t watch the England match as we travel to Sapporo on Monday but we will watch Japan and hope for the best.

smithinjapanToday 07:16 pm JST

It was cockiness that lost Japan the game to Costa Rica, don't forget, with even commentators talking about how "unscary" the match against them was.

It's happened before too. I remember back in the 1998 World Cup after Japan had lost a couple of close ones to two of the top powers, every know-nothing on TV was saying they would beat Jamaica by four or five goals and not be challenged at all. The mourning period for the country was long but I had a blast!

Having difference-making super-subs on the bench is healthy thinking in modern day football. Ritsu Doan, Morata, Rashford, Grealish, Kingsley Coman, Diogo Jota, Dybala, Xeridan Shakiri, are all game-changers.