Costa Rica scores late to beat Japan 1-0 in lackluster game

A classic case of a coach getting ahead of himself.

Poor management.

… back to reality, I guess.

Daikimboshi win to the Costa Ricans! Well played, fully deserved win.

Japan were an embarrassment it pains me to say. Moriyasu should publicly apologize to those thousands of fans who turned up and never stopped singing. Why on earth did he make 5 changes? If it turns out he was resting/rotating players because Costa Rica was a "sure victory", he needs to be sacked.

Putrid stuff from Samurai-Blue. Awful way to bow out. Again, kudos to the Costa Ricans.

@Fighto

You’ve changed your tune suddenly. Hope your head isn’t sore in the morning.

Unfortunately Japan didn’t prepare well for the game. Most people thought all they had to do was turn up for the game after beating Germany. All teams are chances to win in this World Cup. Also the keeper could’ve saved that goal if he had been in the right position.

Don’t feel sorry for the fans at all. They made the decision to go all the way there

Japan looked terrible and I agree that was one of the most lackluster performances ever.

Costa Rica has some masterful footwork and passing, then they'd kick the ball off the field to ghosts, I guess. Japan had better control near the Costa Rica goal but couldn't deliver because they had a solid defense close to the box. The game was lackluster in the first half, but I suspect most of the "lackluster" comments towards the game overall will come from people who expected Japan to win.

I ended up turning on the sound 10 mins into the first half because... well... it's just not a game without the sound. As expected, the Japanese commentators were outright ridiculous, claiming the sunlight was to blame through parts of the first half, despite any scoring chances being the shade, to once again saying "offusaido! OFFUSAIDO! Fouru! FOURU!" every time Costa Rica got the ball in the Japan side or took the ball from Japan in their side, respectively, to even saying "Yoshida (or was it Yamane?) doesn't deserve a yellow card for that. Chigau! Player #4 kept running and hit Yoshida's leg!". But, the greatest moment was, when after an entire first half and half the second one commentator, who kept saying "Aite no kogeki ga kowakunai!" became dead silent when Costa Rica scored.

Glad this will silence a lot of "fans" who treated the German win as if they had been on the field themselves. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the next couple of games. Even if Spain beats Germany, there is still a chance it'll be between the latter, Costa Rica, and Japan to secure the second spot if those two teams lose their next game.

That was painful to watch. All Japan did was pass the ball in the middle without any real set play, it seems their gameplan was for a 0-0 finish. Japan deserved to loose, glad that J-TV and media will finally stop with the replay of the two goals versus Germany.

Spain will totally embarrass this Japan team if this is the best they can do.

Y Japan still has jiisan ++ great grandpas still in the team the reason they loose all team members should be below 25 if they want to win otherwise 8:0 with Spain next

Welp, they blew it. Blue was the better team for 89 min and slipped up once, but they just couldn’t break down the defense.

Win and we were in the 2nd round. Now we need a miracle.

Asano, Minamino, Mitoma and Ito should either be starting or brought in waaaaaay earlier in the match. Having Kubo would also bring a spark. Hopefully Sakai and Tomiyasu will be ready to go next game. Good thing is if Spain wins, they should clinch first and would probably be resting some of their starters if that means anything.

Awful goalkeeping.

So……..did the fans clean up the stands this time?

was the dressing room spotless?

Why did Japan make those changes to the team after being successful against Germany ? ? ?

As Germany controlled the game 70-80 percent is more accurate to say that they lost to Japan, instead of saying that Japan won against Germany. Japan actually played badly the first game and had a lucky win in the final minutes, when the Germans lost focus for a few minutes. Ironically, the second game they played actually better, managing to control it over 60% of the time - so the changes by the coach actually worked. Also unfortunately, football is not decided by "control percentages" but by goals. Costa Rica had exactly one chance in the 5 minutes they actually had the ball and managed to score and win...

Today  09:08 pm JST “ Moriyasu should publicly apologize to those thousands of fans who turned up and never stopped singing. Why on earth did he make 5 changes? If it turns out he was resting/rotating players because Costa Rica was a "sure victory", he needs to be sacked. “

And Kubo didn’t even play; one of the biggest mottainais in the history of football.

A weird feeling of Moriyasu giving some other lads a runout rather than going all out for the win. He's played two different strikers in the first half of both games. Ueda who played today has never scored for the national side! Not even once and he gets the nod in a crucial game!! Maeda who started in the middle against Germany isn't even a striker. Asano's reward for scoring the winning goal in Japan's biggest ever win was to stay on the bench. The fourth striker who just gets a few minutes was at Liverpool and has scored 17 times for Japan.

In the qualifiers, Japan's top goalscorer was the blond Itoh, who has useful pace, but didn't start today. Mitoma got two as a sub in the Australia away game, but has others picked ahead of him, like Soma.

It all smacks of overthinking and overtinkering.

How long was the ball possession between the two teams? Seems like Japan had the ball all game and couldn't pass the ball to the striker properly. Costa Rica passing the ball to an empty lot the entire game but managed to capitalize on the one chance they had.

If Spain beats Germany tonight, Japan “only” needs to tie Spain assuming Germany beats Costs Rica lol. Rooting for Spain! A Germany win tonight almost certainly means Japan is out barring miracles in the last game

All Japan did was pass the ball in the middle without any real set play

That’s kind of what Japan normally do.

Truth will out.

Weak. No flair, no finishers, and pub football goalkeeping too.

TT

Japan can only play counter attacking football. They lack the creativity to make space when the opposition sit deep. The formation should have been 3-5-2-1 not 5-4-1. The players played poorly but the formation and and game plan are the reason they didn't win

Terrible goal keeping is the reason they lost, gonna was too far forward and flat footed

A big problem with the team is that there is not a strong midfielder who can make the difference for the victory. In the past, Nakata, Nakamura Shunsuke, Endo could change a game with their technical skills. Now, no game changer

You’ve changed your tune suddenly. Hope your head isn’t sore in the morning.

Gotta call it as I see it. Complacency set in for Moriyasu. He has some real explaining to do.

Need to drown my sorrows!

Japan has their chances, but maybe a letdown from the Germany win? IDK.

They probably expected an easy win, or at worst a draw. But now they gotta beat

La Roja to get in.

Goal,Goal,Costa Rican Goal

"The Game was full of Yellow Cards on both Sides, and one lucky goal near the end settled it."

Sheesh. Sounds like a commentator. Everything Japan did was "subarashii" and "naisu!" and every time the other team did well it was "luck".

And to those who still do not know the basic English of "lose" and "loose"... "lose" is what Japan did -- the opposite of win. "Loose", as a verb, is when you release something, like an arrow, or a pack of dogs. You "lose" a game, you cannot "loose" one. This is one of the dumbest mistakes native-English speakers can make.

Morocco 22 in FIFA rankings , Belgium 1 and they just got whooped 2-0 and a goal disallowed which was no way offside. Please give me your alternative views on that game to the one I was watching would be much appreciated.

sorry belgium number 2

Football was is and remain a European and South American tradition.

Because of this ONE game might as well ban all non-European and South American teams because they are not worthy of putting on a football uniform. I would actually triple dog dare you to go tell this to all your Japanese friends, family members, co-workers, etc that they have no right to be in the World Cup because football is not in their DNA. Let's see how that works out for you.

And Kubo didn’t even play; one of the biggest mottainais in the history of football.

The fact that Kyogo of Celtic didn't even make the squad also annoyed me.

Japan's keeper is a bit of a liability. The previous chap, Kawaguchi was also hopeless. If Japan could develop a decent striker and a decent keeper they might do better in this kind of game.

Germany should have put 5 past them, Japan should have put 5 past Costa Rica.

Wow, and take a look at that jump........, sugoi.

Bad job by Moriyasu. What was he thinking?!

I hope he takes out Yoshida and Ito the next game and let Kubo play!

The first half might have been one of the worst of the tournament that has already seen four 0-0 draws. Neither team had a shot on goal in a tactical stalemate.

Excellent observation JT. This was a pivotal moment and I realized if Japan failed to score in the first half, then they will eventually draw or lose...sure enough - lost! And it goes without mentioning Japan continues to display a very weak kicking game. Best of success against Spain...you're gonna need it!

Japan will have to beat Spain.

Japan team attempted to wing it.

Some of those J supporters spent there life saving to attend that match, sorry they deserved better.

Life and soul every match, the pitch should have turned red.

No excuses.

Talk about the game all you like most of you probably don’t understand it .

Is that not what football's all about? (We were robbed, it was clearly offside, that was never a foul, you stupid ****, etc.)

I can speak as somewhat of an expert, coming from a country that hasn't lost a World Cup final game since 1998.

PS: Anyone But England. (joke, kind of)

0-0 games aren't necessarily bad. Some can be really tight and very watchable.

I only saw the second half of Japan/CR. They seemed to be unable to break down a very defensive side. Germany expected to win, so attacked more, leaving more space at the back.

Maybe they knocked the ball around a bit more after the Germany win, and shouldn't have. With a packed defence you just keep attacking and play percentages. Be direct, get people and balls into the box as often as possible and bombard them. Eventually one should go in.

The goal was Costa Rica's only shot on target in two games. It's football. It happens.

Just look at the downvotes on my comment when i said it will be

Japan 2 Spain 1

And it happened real.

Japan kept up the Offensive throughout the Game, but couldn't get through the Costa Rica defenses.

The Game was full of Yellow Cards on both Sides, and one lucky goal near the end settled it.

Told before,here some of the super supporter of whatever Japan does predicted Japan already in the semi finals or more.

Japan was just lucky to defeat the four time world champions and today showed that it wasn’t capable to win against a very mediocre team.

Football was is and remain a European and South American tradition.

Japan held its destiny in its own hands, but now needs everything to go its way to progress.

A fierce and unrelenting attack was neeed, but did not eventuate.

There still remains a chance.

Did anyone of you watch the game ? Costa Rica had one shot on target the whole game how many Japan . The Japan keeper got a hand to the ball so how is it his mistake ( defense was maybe the problem or just good play ) . Now watching Morocco outclassing Belgium and winning ( now 2-0 ) how would you explain that game ? Talk about the game all you like most of you probably don’t understand it .

Japan 2 Spain 1