Japan’s national coach, Hajime Moriyasu, said the 2-1 win over Germany in their Group E FIFA World Cup opener in Qatar, was historic, but not a surprise.
Moriyasu also said as much as the win, which he attributes to the development of football in the country, is a big one, they don’t want to swing from joy to sorrow, and are now focused on the next game against Costa Rica.
Late goals by substitutes Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano gave Japan an incredible 2-1 comeback victory over four-time champions Germany in the World Cup on Wednesday.
Japan are playing in their seventh successive World Cup, having never qualified before 1998, but have never claimed such a high-profile scalp.
Japan coach, Hajime Mroyasu, and Japan times journalist, Dan Orlowitz, say it’s a historic win.
“I believe it’s a historic moment, a historical victory to say the least if I may. Considering the development of Japan’s soccer and the national team we have been building, as well as the players who are playing in the world, I would say it’s not a surprise.”
Orlowitz says, “This was a historic win for Japan in the 100 or fifty years or so of football history this country has. There has never been a result as momentous as this one in my opinion for them to beat the world number 11 in the way they did a day after Saudi Arabia, a remarkable week for Asian football.”
Catastrophe-soccer was how German soccer fan, Heinz Ewertz, described the performance of the German team.
Ewertz and fellow soccer enthusiasts gathered in the Viktoria Klause pub in Essen, Germany, to watch the match.
For Germany, the shock result was a repeat of their 2018 World Cup nightmare when, as defending champions, they lost their opener to Mexico.
Orlowitz says victory on Sunday against Costa Rica will almost guarantee Japan a spot in the last 16 from where anything is possible.
“You have so many players who have never played at the world cup before, all five of the substitutes last night were making their world cup debut and they don’t know what they are not capable of so in that sense Japanese is playing with house money here they will continue to be underdogs but if you can do it against Germany, you can do it against anyone.”
Meanwhile, Spain fans voiced their happiness after the former champions got their World Cup off to a pulsating start with a record 7-nil win over Costa Rica.
The former champions took the points with ease thanks to Olmo, Gavi, Marco Asensio, Carlos Soler, Alvaro Morata and a brace from Ferran Torres.
The win was Spain’s biggest ever win at the World Cup.
And finally, Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portugal squad trained ahead of their World Cup Group H opener against Ghana. Coach Fernando Santos said that Portugal will not be distracted by the drama surrounding Ronaldo’s acrimonious departure from Manchester United.
Manchester United announced on Tuesday that Ronaldo would leave the club with immediate effect. That brought to a bitter end — his second spell at Old Trafford after he said in a media interview that he felt betrayed by the club.
