Fans in Japan go wild after World Cup win over Colombia

Nice to have something to celebrate as a country! Here's to hoping it continues!

CONGRATULATIONS JAPAN!!!! I didnt see that coming.

Fans gather at Shibuya's scramble crossing in Tokyo on Tuesday night

Hmm. That top photo looks like a daytime photo in a parking lot, not Shibuya scramble...The game finished after 10 or so, right? Not a big soccer fan, but it was pretty exciting to watch!

They certainly picked up in the 2nd half. Well done, Japan.

Seems like Japan had a lot of near-misses here's hoping they settle down and kick some more ass

Hooktrunk2, the dead giveaway is the is high ISO noise. Also shadow of the police officer's leg at the bottom left is being cast from a different light source (probably a car) than the shadow of two people at the top right corner. You also see that the faint shadow of the crowd near the bottom of picture is facing towards the bottom. All this suggests multiple light sources; it's nighttime in the city.

Samurai Blue showed Japan have finally arrived as a football nation! Best team Japan has ever sent to world cups. Rest of the World is in shock

The world is hardly in shock. Mexico beating Germany is a shock. Japan beat a Colombian team that played with 10 players for 99% of the game. As great a result as that is and credit to the Japanese team, but the coverage from the media acts if Japan already won the tournament.

Ganbare Japan - I'm happy for you and other Japanese people for the excedllent result. As far as I can see, you've made 8 posts on the victory. I see a lot of sport played by Japanese people - both my sons are in children's football teams - and one nice thing is that the victors are modest and don't go on and on about it.

Something you and the Japanese media could learn from.

Title is a bit misleading. They didn't win the world cup, they just beat Colombia.

Any win in the tournament is a World Cup win.

Great win and great for the fans to celebrate!

Here's hoping to many more victories for this Japanese team.

"You beauty!" screamed Ken Adachi

Is that a Japanese to Australian translation?

An excellent result... but I am not sure the article needed to focus so heavily on the imbuing of alcohol.

Credit where it's due; good game, Japan, and great win. I'm thinking the red card helped tremendously, so Columbia has itself to thank in a way. Japan still did not do well with all the chances they had, and Columbia, on the other hand, was scary every time they came close to the net (and what made me chuckle was half of the chances they had in the second half were after Honda passed Columbia the ball on at least three occasions).

Big win for Japan, and that may boost them just enough to do even better.

The rule prescribes a red card and one was promptly administered. End of the story.

It's not quite as simple as that I'm afraid champ, the 'double-whammy' rule was amended a few years ago. The rule now states that the offence has to be intentional or violent. I'm not sure the handball by Sanchez was deliberate. That's up for debate though I'll admit.

The commentators were embarrassing, as usual. Well, one was. The lower-voiced commentator was slightly more down to earth. He'd say, "There's a kind of optimism with the Columbian players despite being a man down" and the other guy would say, "The crowd is overwhelmingly supporters of Columbia, but Japan's winning. Yup, Japan's winning. Honda's getting ready. Honda's preparation is over. Honda has stepped on the field. There's Honda. Honda Keisuke. There's Honda. He's on the field. (skips part where Honda kicks the ball out when trying to pass)."

I should have known better and hit mute.

First time I see Japan playing a good game in a long time, they did deserve to win.

Japanese people can be proud of their team. They played with such a desire to win it was contagious. Great match and great win!!!

Great win by Japan. They really put in. Of course playing against 10 men for almost a whole game may have helped a little.

But not a giant surprise. Sports media and fans here are way too pessimistic before a game. That way they can win both - Lose - told you so and Win -Yeah!

I've been telling people here for weeks that Japan can match it with Senegal and probably Colombia and because of the nature of soccer - luck - Poland is not undefeatable. This group is not a super group.

Seems to be playing out that way after Senegals defeat of Poland.

Imbuing alcohol? With what? Sounds intriguing... ; )

Great game and I think the score should have been 2-0 but Colombia did some great acting.

Actually entering the 2010 World Cup, Japan lost several friendly matches and I remembered fans booing the team/Okada as they left the field. Japan went on to win 2 games in their group matches. It was great to get revenge against Colombia after what happened in 2014.

SEE people were calling this team old and all of the "old" guys were intricate in this game. Go Japan!

Japan really got lucky the dude drew a red card so early in the game. I'm glad they won but they had a pretty big advantage.

Let's see how they fare against Senegal and we'll be better able to judge how good Japan's side really is.

Oh, and congrats Japan! I don't follow soccer much but I imagine beating Colombia is a huge deal.

Especially since the last time they met in the World Cup Colombia kicked their butts

Now if they can take on Senegal - which I think they probably can.

It was a good game. Japan played very well - nice to see a lot of offense for a change. Looking forward to them advancing.

Finally something we can all celebrate! Top effort by the blues! Brilliant goal from Osako.

Good on you blue samurai. No one saw this coming.

"That was so amazing," squealed 21-year-old student Kaori Hagino, her nails painted red and white in the colours of Japan's national flag.

"Maybe now we can get to the final," she added hopefully, downing a gin and tonic. "Anyway I'll have a few more drinks tonight to celebrate."

so many things to like about these 2 sentences.

For those on JT who derided Japan's chnces, YAH BOO SUCKS.

YES, THEY HAVE TOUGH GAMES AHERAD BUT WHAT A GREAT START.

What an exciting game of football (what's soccer?). Congratulations Japan. A lot of shots on goal but need more of that finishing power. The defence was dogmatic and it played off. (Ok it was 10 men but that's sport) So if my math is correct.... if Senegal beat lococolombia and japan gets 2 draws they are through?

It is nice Japan won the football match against Columbia! I wish them luck with their next game.

@PerformingMonkey

You beauty!" screamed Ken AdachiIs

Is that a Japanese to Australian translation?

Nah. That'd have to be 'you beaudy'

Japan looking a lot better than they did in 2014, they completely controlled the tempo of the match and forced Colombia to play their game, a complete opposite from the 2014 strategy of super defensive play. Colombia only went super aggressive during injury time. Sure the red card also worked in Japan's favor but you can see that they're here to fight now!

and what made me chuckle was half of the chances they had in the second half were after Honda passed Columbia the ball on at least three occasions).

Did you see his delivery that set up the winner?

That’s the stat that counts. Off the bench to assist the winner.

Well done Japan! Tbh I wasn't 'that' optimistic at half-time, thought Colombians had momentum as they dominated most of the first half. Got tired in the 2nd and Japan went for the jugular.

They aren't through yet though but this is a massive boost. Really liked Osako and Sakai.

Whats the Japanese for "who ate all of the pies"? and "are you blind referee"? I am sure the Japanese are to polite to throw insults at the ref! any well done Japan!

My husband was singing "Who are ya" and "You're gonna cry in a minute" to the Colombians. I never realised he knew these songs, all those times I dragged hm to the football has finally paid off.

A fault directly preventing a shoot on the goal from reaching its target means automatically red card.

Sigh. Nothing 'automatically' means a red card. Nothing in the rules states this. A handball, like any infraction, has to be interpreted by the referee. In this case, the referee decided it was deliberate. I'm willing to argue that it wasn't and that it should have been a penalty and a yellow card.

To block a shot with one's hand is cheating. Columbia cheated.

Again, a foul is not cheating. Deliberately fouling is cheating.

It's important that you both know the rules, or you're likely to be spending a lot of time shouting at the TV.

@Peeping, it all hangs on one word really doesn't it? "Deliberate" handball. I've watched the replay a few times, I don't think it was deliberate, although I admit that I can see why people think it was. And I agree that the ball was going into the net, I don't think the keeper would have reached it. My point was that the red card was not 'automatic', or 'mandatory' or any of those other mythical cliches that commentators and fans spout. I've been reffing football for 25 years, I hear uninformed rubbish every weekend from men who've been playing the game for even longer. "I got the ball ref" after they smash through an opponent from behind is another one. In this instance the ref had to decide that Sanchez intentionally decided to use his arm to stop the shot.

Brave decision by the ref after just three minutes. Many an official would have chosen a safe yellow, I applaud him for that even if I disagree with the colour of the card.

Looking at it more closely, I do see lanes and it is pretty bright down there.

I thought the red card was a bit harsh, although it definitely was a penalty. Japan were pretty awful after that until HT, but in the second half I thought they played really sensibly, just wore Colombia down. Falcao's diving & flopping around was proper annoying.

Osako man of the match. He played really well.

For anyone who didn't see it, Poland managed a similar chain-of-errors howler against Senegal, so things are looking promising for Japan. Japan stuck to the task and created lots of chances, so it was a deserved win.

fwiw I thought the Colombia goal was an error by Kawashima. Not Karius level, but his reaction was very slow.

As happy as I am about Japan getting one over Colombia after the last tournament, beating a team playing with 10 men for 90 minutes and with their best player in Rodriguez on the bench, by only one goal isn't a shock.

I am interested to see how Japan play against the other two teams when they have 11 men. The Senegalese centrebacks are huge and the Polish offense is frightening when not firing blanks.

Let's forget FIFA world ranking, it is meaning nothing to see Senegal defeats Poland. Russia beats Egypt. Mexico won Germany. Very special this World Cup in Russia 2018. It was time to see things going to change beyond history, who is strong or weak, and this FIFA ranking crap! I like this changing time of football world, any team has chance to win, with hope, luck and miracle!!

It's a huge win for Japan, but ceased to be a shock (or even a surprise) the second the red card was produced.

Enjoy the moment (I certainly did) but don't get carried away it'll probably be 11 v 11 in the next couple of games.

Let's keep it real: They played 87 minutes with a one man advantage, I should damn well hope they won. Also, shame on Kawashima for trying to claim the ball didn't cross the line for Colombia's goal, even though everyone could see it clearly had and the goal line technology replay just embarassed him as a cheater.

The first half was one of the strangest I've ever seen at the World Cup. Davinson Sanchez of Arsenal made a schoolboy howler to let in Osaka for the move that led to the penalty and red card. Colombia then fell apart completely, shades of Brazil's meltdown against Germany four years ago. Japan should have wrapped the game up inside the first 15 minutes but squandered a couple of good chances, then became curiously passive as the Colombian coach seemed paralysed with indecision. Japan allowed Colombia back into the game and then the lumbering Kawashima was totally fooled by a rather clever free kick.

Nishino must have had some sharp words at half time as Japan seemed far calmer and focused in the second half. The longer the game went on it seemed likely that Japan would win and then David Ospina of Arsenal was caught dithering in no-man's-land for the second Japan goal. Even so, James nearly equalised late on and Japan just about edged over the line. It's a great result and well deserved but the performance was patchy, and I can't believe Kawashima is the best goalie in Japan.

Poland were awful against Senegal and now face a must-win against Colombia, while Japan can pretty much cement a place in the knock out stage if they beat the Africans. Amazing turn up, really.

The key lesson learned from this game is: don't take any Arsenal players to the World Cup. They have been terrible so far.

I thought the red card was a bit harsh

A fault directly preventing a shoot on the goal from reaching its target means automatically red card. Yes it's harsh, but fair.

I don't know why people are questioning the red card. The guy swung his arm out a foot from his body. He made no attempt to keep his arms at his side and thus it was judged a hand ball. Fair call. That would be paid every day of the week in major comps around the world.

Japan got lucky. Hardly a test of skill against a ten man squad. They won't get past the next round.

The ball was heading into the goal before the Columbian player's arm shot up and blocked it. The referee was on top of things and made the right call.

@peeping, that part concerns physical fouls, not handballs. Even in that that part the card colour is decided by intent

*"Where a player commits an offence against an opponent within their own penalty area which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offending player is cautioned if the offence was an attempt to play the ball; in all other circumstances (e.g. holding, pulling, pushing, no possibility to play the ball etc.) the offending player must be sent off."*

As refs we were introduced to this in 2016 (my ref union just emailed me a newspaper article of it, lazy buggers). Teams were tired of the 'Triple Punishment' for these situations when the player had shown a genuine attempt to play the ball (usually keepers); Penalty, Red card, Supension. Essentially we were informed that red cards should only be shown if there was intent to deny the goal or a goal scoring opportunity.

Last night's ref obviously decided that Sanchez intended to use his arm to block the shot. I'm not sure, to me it looked like his arm was already out before Kagawa hit the ball. Might be wrong though, we'd have to capture & torture Sanchez to really know.

Her visit is the first such trip by a Japanese royal to Russia since 1916.

A good point, that I had previously missed the significance of. (I skipped the earlier article about her going.) Thanks, Zichi.

"I thought the red card was a bit harsh".

The rule prescribes a red card and one was promptly administered. End of the story.

Lots of sour grapes foreigners complaining that Japan had a man over, "Colombia whipped their asses last time" (never mind it was 4 years ago!), the wind was blowing towards Ospina's goal ,yada yada yada.

Guess what, had he not intentionally deflected a goal bound shot with his friggin arm Japan would have scored anyway. I'm not aware of Japan asking the Colombian to be expelled so that Japan could win the match.

Colombia lost because Colombia have been playing terribly recently; they are no better than Japan, contrary to all the naysayers and malcontents, pretending to be cool and objective about it.

We just beat mighty Tunisia' now apparently nobody can sop the three lions. Some people really need to chillax when complaining about the Japanese media.

Peeping_Tom: Guess what, had he not intentionally deflected a goal bound shot with his friggin arm Japan would have scored anyway.

I'm not certain this is correct. The goalkeeper was also diving in the same direction with his arms out. Different angles from various replays suggested different potential results - tough to say exactly what would've happened without the hand ball.

That red card essentially ended the game and Japan barely beat a team that played with 10 men. Their passing was mostly terrible and they missed many chances. Not really a good team.

Well done Japan!!!

It is not harsh. It is mandatory. To block a shot with one's hand is cheating. Columbia cheated. They cheated and lost. Case closed. Japan won. Kudos.

Luddite - you could teach him that famous 'My old man said be an Arsenal fan' chant by Tottenham fans. It would still scan for the Poland game!

@ClipettyClop

http://www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/lawsandrules/laws/football-11-11/law-12---fouls-and-misconduct

"SENDING-OFF OFFENCES"

A player, substitute or substituted player who commits any of the following offences is sent off:

denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball (except a goalkeeper within their penalty area)

denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent whose overall movement is towards the offender's goal by an offence punishable by a free kick (unless as outlined below)

serious foul play

biting or spitting at someone

violent conduct

using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures

receiving a second caution in the same match

entering the video operation room (VOR)

A player, substitute or substituted player who has been sent off must leave the vicinity of the field of play and the technical area."

This is how the law actually stands.

I'll still stick with my guns. However, I'm prepared to concede on one point; on the balance of probabilities is highly likely Japan would have scored had not a deliberate handball not occurred.

@ClippetyCop

Nice talking to someone who knows; makes huge difference.

However, wouldn't the following do away with cogitations on deliberate/not deliberate ball handling?

"denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent whose overall movement is towards the offender's goal by an offence punishable by a free kick (unless as outlined below)"

Kagawa was running towards goal; last defender handles the ball. Red plus an earlier shower.

Seems obvious to me. Feel free to disagree.

Regards,

The Peeping

@ClippetyCop

Thanks a lot; learning is something I like to do. Once upon a time I was an avid footballer, until friends and the fact that I live right next to a dojo made me switch to Shotokan; still love me footie to bits though.

In relation to the incident it would appear (at least to me) that the arm sticks out with the intention of parrying the shot. So, if I was the ref I would have done likewise.

Thanks again for your input.

zatoizugoodo:

Hooktrunk2, the dead giveaway is the is high ISO noise. Also shadow of the

Nice sleuthing zatoizugoodo! Yeah, I was just waking up when I first looked at the photo this morning. For me the centerline paint stripe was the give away at last. I wish I could have watched it with the throngs of fans as well. The noise must have been deafening inside some of those pubs. Go Japan!

Great to see. Well done Japan. Now Aus just needs to lift their game a little and I will be a happy little chappy. Seems as though a few posters from yesterday's article, Osaka earthquake, must be a bit full on humble pie this morning.

It is good to see Japan get a win in the first round, but I don't understand why the whole country goes crazy over it.

England fans were just as bad when they beat Tunisia.

Good start. I wish I had been able to watch.

Then you don't need booze to celebrate.

Where are the fan kids ?

In a world cup, any team has chance. Iceland knows it. With guts and support, everything is possible

Whats the Japanese for "who ate all of the pies"? and "are you blind referee"? I am sure the Japanese are to polite to throw insults at the ref! any well done Japan!

Honda's getting ready. Honda's preparation is over. Honda has stepped on the field. There's Honda. Honda Keisuke. There's Honda. He's on the field. (skips part where Honda kicks the ball out when trying to pass)."

Honda crosses...goal! Off the bench to set up the winner!

Not bad.

The world is hardly in shock. Mexico beating Germany is a shock. Japan beat a Colombian team that played with 10 players for 99% of the game. As great a result as that is and credit to the Japanese team, but the coverage from the media acts if Japan already won the tournament.

No they're not. Some are getting carried away but some are not, such as Taka Iwasaki. Meanwhile, the English press are going wild saying stuff like "it's coming home", after beating football powerhouse Tunisia.

Ganbare Japan!Today 07:00 am JST

Samurai Blue showed Japan have finally arrived as a football nation! Best team Japan has ever sent to world cups. Rest of the World is in shock"

Alot of nonsense here. This Colombian team is terrible quality and despite being down to 10 men for 87 minutes had Japan on their heels for much of the match. Some of the Colombians appeared to be trying to lose intentionally, especially the handball guy and Cuadrado(who used to be good but now looks like a bedraggled meth head). FIFA should investigate these 2 players in particular.

How good it is to see such peaceful celebrations after a soccer match! No violence or vebal abuse which so often happens in some countries that must not be mentioned because it could be construed as "Racist".

@ half-hearted jumper

Japan is famous for heavy drinking to celebrate big victories, its the culture here. But never any fights, looting or overturned cars so its all for fun!

People making excuses or Colombia's loss and are angry that Japan won. Why can't they give credit where it's due? Also, many of the English members on JT failed to mention Ashley Young's elbow during the England match. That should've been a red card.

I don't watch soccer. If I want to see a group of men try to score for 90 minutes and then cry when they miss, I'll just go to a pub.

It is good to see Japan get a win in the first round, but I don't understand why the whole country goes crazy over it.

Samurai Blue showed Japan have finally arrived as a football nation! Best team Japan has ever sent to world cups. Rest of the World is in shock, but Japanese can be very proud today.

This is what the olympics in 2020 will be, but instead a 3 week long street party!! Ganbarre Nihon!!