Japan breaks the curse at this year's World Cup and achieves a second consecutive
advancement
A knockout achievement, this match tries to break through to Croesus to hit the top eight for the first time ever, while Croesus looks to claim the title they sorely missed last term. The match is a great opportunity for
semifinals
Arguably the two closest matches in the tournament, along with Portugal v Switzerland.
Japan played a single striker formation as usual in this match, with Dairen Maeda running the show in the first half to wear down the Crocs' defense. The only surprise was that Ryo Doyasu started the match on the right side due to the injury of Kenyoung Kubo, and Kengyo Tomiyasu came on to replace Hwang Itakura, who was suspended, while the Crocs had a strong midfield, but the starting lineups were a bit different in the match. Japan's attack on Croesus caught Croesus a bit off guard, with Junya Ito and Yasutoshi Don running down the right flank, often tearing apart the left side of the Croesus defense, and finally Yasutoshi Don's beautiful cross to Daizo Maeda was able to break through for a goal in the first half, making it the first time that Japan had ever scored a first half goal in this year's tournament.
In the second half, Mori Baoichi didn't make any changes to his team because Japan was ahead. He used his starters to start the game, so that if the game changed, the substitutes would have more physical strength to fight. Japan immediately made a change in personnel, replacing Kaoru Mitani and Takuma Asano. It is worth praising Croecia's defensive discipline, as mentioned in the pre-match analysis [Kada World Cup] Stronger is Stronger - Japan vs Croecia pre-match prediction, Japan's tactics have been used in two games, the second half of the fixed set of Kaoru Sanfelt, Takuma Asano, and other high-speed sprint to break through Croecia's defense, and Croecia has also remembered the lessons learned from the Belgian battle, the two defenders of the Japanese center backs sticking close to the defense, restricting the play of Takuma Asano. Restricted Takuma Asano's play, so that he did not have a shot on goal, and at the same time, in the side road, Kaoru Mitaniabashi's defense also from the midfield to the back of the field for two people to guard, so Japan's second half to extend the game very uncomfortable, so Mori Baoichi replaced Takumi Minamino, hoping that Minamino Takumi can break through the ball in the center line, but Minamino's performance was not ideal, many times after getting the ball will be able to stop the ball, and therefore, will be However, Minamino did not play well in this match, he could not stop the ball after holding it, so he pulled the ball back, giving Croesus a chance to stabilize the defense in the high-speed attack and defense transition.
In Russia in 2018
Roth (name)
World Cup, Croats since
semifinals
After the extension match, Croecia didn't put many attackers into the game and maintained the route of passing from both wings, Japan was able to cope with it; however, Japan also played a set pattern to the end, and both sides were unwilling to take the risk of changing their formation, so they entered into the PK match, and in the PK match, Japan may have been nervous or had no anticipation of preparation. In the PK match, Japan might be nervous or not prepared for the game, so their performance was very bad. When playing PKs, the first judgment of the goalkeeper will look at the opponent's supporting foot, for example, if a right-footed player's left foot is over 90 degrees, it is easy to kick to the left side of the goal; if it is less than 90 degrees, it is easy to kick to the right side of the goal, and the movement of the Japanese players is very obvious; therefore, the goalkeeper of Croatsia, Livakovic, has pounced on the three goals.
On the whole, Japan has exceeded expectations in this tournament, how to increase the number of attacking routines will be a topic in the next World Cup; for Croesus, the next match against Brazil, in the four years ago against France, the mid-field was penetrated, caught in the situation of counter-attacking, which is not a part of Croesus's expertise, how to limit the Brazilian mid-field, is the key to Croesus's ability to continue to push forward.
