EDismay was written all over the Japanese faces at a moment that must have seemed like a huge, almost unbelievable gift to the delegation from the German Football Association (DFB) up there in northern Qatar at the team camp in Al-Ruwais.
On Sunday morning, the national team of the DFB still had to fear that in the evening game against Spain (8 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the football World Cup, on ZDF and on MagentaTV) they would be eliminated from a World Cup tournament historically quickly, after a rather strange 1-0 Costa Rica’s victory against Japan made it possible for the DFB team to remain in the tournament with good chances in the event of a defeat.
The weak Costa Ricans, who had lost 7-0 to Spain and who were once again shockingly pale, only appearing halfway dangerously in the opponent’s penalty area once in 90 minutes, won with a late goal from Keysher Fuller (81′). “Yesterday we were dead, now we’re very much alive again,” said the scorer, whose team now also has the opportunity to reach the round of 16 after all with a win against Germany on Thursday. But based on all the impressions the team from the Caribbean state has left in Qatar so far, that’s unlikely.
The Japanese, on the other hand, missed a historic opportunity. “We really wanted to grab those three points,” said coach Hajime Moriyasu, whose players were far too cautious despite the impressive 2-1 win over Germany. Captain Maya Yoshida tried to explain what had happened but seemed a bit at a loss himself: “Football is a very difficult game. You have to be ready both physically and mentally. Today, after beating Germany and losing Costa Rica, it was mentally very difficult to find the same good attitude as in the first game.” Somehow they were overwhelmed by the good situation, which probably created additional pressure.
A few days before the start of the World Cup, Yoshida reported in the FAZ that he was playing in a team that needed “two faces” to be successful in such a big tournament. There is this everyday face for the qualification, in which Japan is almost always the clear favorite. At the same time, however, the “Blue Samurai” would have to be able to play the role of outsider in order to keep up at World Cup level.
Both sides of this team have already been seen in Qatar: in the role of the underdog, they defeated Germany, against Costa Rica they were clearly superior for almost 90 minutes and lost because, despite all apparent dominance, they lacked the penetrating power. In a frighteningly uneventful and low-level football game.
Although the stadium was severely chilled in the scorching desert sun – without long pants and a sweater you were freezing – both teams looked rather weak and exhausted in the midday heat of Al-Rayyan on the outskirts of Doha.
A little more happened after the break. The Japanese appeared promising three or four times in the attacking third, so they fought for two free-kicks in a favorable position, but failed to execute them. A really good chance only came when Japan had their backs against the wall. But the Frankfurt Eintracht professional Daichi Kamada, who was far too unimaginative overall, shot Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas from seven meters (88th).
Maybe the outsider role is actually better for them, and they can take it back on Thursday against Spain (8 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the World Cup, on ARD and on MagentaTV). “We still have a chance, we never give up,” said Kamada, but it was obvious how disappointed the Bundesliga player was at the end of the working day. Besides Costa Rica, the big winners were the Germans.
