japan: Qatar FIFA World Cup: Japan stuns Germany with late strike; wins 2-1

Japan’s Ritsu Doon and Takuma Asano struck the final blow in the last 15 minutes to give Japan a stunning 2-1 victory over four-time champions Germany in their World Cup Group E opener on Wednesday.

The Germans dominated the contest at the Khalifa International Stadium and took the lead in the 33rd minute with a penalty from Ilkay Guendogen after wing-back David Raum was fouled by Japan goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda.

Germany came closest to scoring in the 16th minute with a superb corner kick from Joshua-Walter Kimmich, who was headed in by Rudiger.

Germany were awarded a free-kick as Thomas Müller was brought down by Takefusa Kubo in the 18th minute but the Germans failed to convert. Gundogan troubled the Japan team with his superb footballing skills as he constantly managed to find spaces in the field.

However, the second goal never came, and Japan’s raids into the German half became more and more frequent, culminating in Daun’s equalizer and Asano’s superb finish eight minutes later.

The defeat in the opening match of a major championship was the third in a row for Germany after losing to Mexico at the 2018 World Cup, when they lost to France in the first round as reigning champions, and to France at Euro 2020.

(with inputs from agencies)

Originally published at Pen 18