The German national team led the score, but could not keep its advantage.
On Wednesday, November 23, the Japanese national team played against the German national team in the match of the first round of the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The meeting took place at the “Khalifa International” stadium in Doha and ended with a sensational defeat of the Germans.
The first half hour of the meeting was dominated by the German national team. Thanks to this, the Bundesliga was able to take the lead in the 33rd minute, when midfielder Ilkay Gundogan converted a 11-meter shot awarded for a foul in the penalty area on David Rauma.
For a long time, the meeting was under the control of Germany, but in the 75th minute, Japan managed to equalize thanks to the goal of Ritsu Doan, who locked the ball into an empty net. Eight minutes later, the Japanese took the lead when Asano, who broke through on Takuma’s flank, fired powerfully into the near corner under the crossbar, Manuel Neuer was unable to save his team.
In the last minutes, Germany tried to equalize the score, but Japan confidently fought off the attacks. The meeting ended with a victory for Japan with a score of 2:1.
Germany – Japan – 1:2
goals: Gundogan, 33 pen – Doan, 75, Asano, 83
Germany: Neuer, Sule, Rudiger, Schlotterback, Raum, Gundogan (Goretska, 67), Kimmich, Havertz (Füllkrug, 79), Muller (Hofmann, 67), Gnabry, Musiala (Goetze, 79)
Japan: Honda, Sakai (Minamino, 74), Yoshida, Itakura, Nagatomo (Mitoma, 57), Endo, Kamada, Kubo (Tomiyasu, 46), Tanaka (Doan, 71), Ito, Maeda (Asano, 57)
Match review:
It is worth noting that for the first time in its history, the German national team lost two opening matches of the world championships.
In the last World Cup, Germany lost to the Mexican national team with a score of 0:1. Subsequently, the team could not get out of the group, earning only three points. Germany beat Sweden (2:1) in the next two games, but lost to South Korea 0:2.
Despite the loss, the match was a special one for Germany striker Youssuf Mukoko, who became the youngest German national team player ever to play in a World Cup match.
Mukoko, who came on as a substitute in the match against the Japanese team, turned 18 a few days ago.
In addition, Mukoko became the youngest player at the World Cup in the last 20 years – on June 12, 2002, Femi Opabunmi, who was 17 years and 101 days old at the time, made his debut for Nigeria in a match against England. Since then, players under the age of 18 have not participated in World Cup matches.
Coaches’ words after the match
The head coach of the German national team, Hans-Dieter Flick:
“We missed a lot of chances in the first half. Japan outplayed us in terms of efficiency, which led to another goal. The individual mistakes we made today must not happen again. We knew Japan were quick to switch from defense to attack and this what they showed in this game.”
The head coach of the Japanese national team, Hajime Moriyasu:
“I think it’s a historic moment and a historic victory, to say the least. Regarding the development of Japanese football, I think we’re gaining momentum and players are going abroad.
We believe that these leagues have contributed to the development of the abilities of our Japanese players, so we are very grateful and respect that. But regardless of the opponent, we want to win.”
Let’s add that in another match of Group E, the Spanish national team inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Costa Rican team (7:0).
In the next round, the German national team will play against Spain, and Costa Rica will face Japan.
We will remind that this fiasco of Germany is already the second loud sensation at the 2022 World Cup. The day before, the Argentine national team unexpectedly lost to Saudi Arabia.
