I’m going to pootle off at this point. It’s been a remarkable evening. Bye!
He’s asked what he felt when Belgium scored their winner:
First, I was questioning myself, whether I had control of the game. We were 2-0 up, and still we lost. I don’t think you should blame the players. It was me who might have lost control of the game. When we let in that goal, I blamed myself, and I questioned my tactics.
I am devastated. We took the lead, but we couldn’t win. I felt there was nothing in it. Maybe it was my decisions as a coach, or my tactics, that meant we couldn’t keep up with Belgium when they upped their game. My players, throughout this tournament, were very positive, better than in the past. Even against the likes of Belgium, they were confident. Today, there were good performances from our players. I think they performed better than 100%. But we have to make up that difference, going forward.
On that last-minute free-kick/corner double-whammy:
We wanted to finish the match, to win the match. And at that point I thought we might go into extra time. However we did not really expect that kind of super counter attack, and my players didn’t expect within a few seconds, for the ball to be carried into our half. And that really decided the match.
Akira Nishino speaks to the press:
It’s not just that we played well, but we had to win it. We wanted to win it. Our team is strong enough, and against Belgium I believed we could at least match them. We started off very well, but at the end, right at the end, to have conceded a goal like that, it was not expected. When we were 2-0 up I didn’t change my players. I really wanted to score another goal, and we did have opportunities. We were to some extent controlling the ball and controlling the game, but at that point Belgium upped their game, when they really had to. At the end we couldn’t really match them. So we were leading, and we were going to win, but I didn’t expect this kind of reversal.
“While I fully applaud Japan’s wholehearted approach, it really was knuckle-headed not to play a short corner with 30 seconds left,” writes Martin Gamage. “Japan had won nothing in the air all game and with Courtois’ quick thinking, laid themselves wide open. What a pity; they must be kicking themselves but their game management was non-existent.”
History is written by the victors, and all that. Had Honda’s long-range free-kick flown in, or the subsequent corner dropped to a blue shirt, we’d be hailing their brave and glorious commitment to attack. Though they could have left one extra man back – as soon as Lukaku ran across the defence from right to left, bringing a defender with him, the entire right wing was unguarded, and when De Bruyne picked out the excellent Meunier they were doomed.
You’ve watched the players – now rate the players!
Roberto Martinez – absolute genius/flukey fraud (delete as appropriate).
2 - Belgium are the first team in #WorldCup history to have two subs coming on and score a goal in a World Cup knockout game. Masterminded. pic.twitter.com/9Z5oNWScxa
— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) July 2, 2018
“So Japan switch off for the last quarter of the game,” writes Ben Simmons. “How deliciously ironic.“
Japan did brilliantly to keep Belgium’s best players quiet, and to threaten themselves. But Belgium always had the option of bringing on Fellaini – and, potentially, others – and with their height offering a threat that no amount of skill and effort from Japan could contain. De Bruyne and Hazard disappointed, and Belgium only came up with one killer move that ripped Japan apart. It concluded with two seconds of the game to play. Unanswerable. Undeniable. Unbelievable.
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Here’s your super soaraway match report:
Belgium play Brazil in the quarter-finals. The manner of this victory, dramatically fighting back from two goals down to snatch a win in stoppage time, will massively boost their confidence, though the manner in which they fell two goals down will massively damage their confidence. So overall, happy! And also sad.
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Roberto Martinez speaks!
Well, that’s what happens in the World Cup. You have to congratulate Japan, they played the perfect game. They were so solid, they frustrated us, then they were clinical on the counter. And it was a test of the team. The reaction of everyone wanting to get back in the game. To win the game tells you everything about this group of players.
No negative things, believe me. Today was about going through, and we did that. Today was a day to be proud of this group of players. Keep believing. These players can. In the World Cup sometimes you want to be perfect. Football is about winning and the boys showed an incredible winning mentality today.
What a second half that was. Absolutely brilliant. And played in a wonderful spirit. Japan made no attempt to kill the game at 2-0 up. There was no time-wasting, no Neymaresque histrionics. Perhaps they were punished for it, but the result was fabulously compelling.
No team has come from two goals down to win a World Cup knock-out tie since West Germany against England in 1970 (and they needed extra time).
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Final score: Belgium 3-2 Japan
90+5 mins: What a counter-attack that was. Courtois catches the corner and rolls the ball out to De Bruyne. He carries it to halfway and passes to Meunier, in all sorts of space on the right, and his low cross is excellently dummied by Lukaku, leaving Chadli with a tap-in.
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GOAL! Belgium 3-2 Japan (Chadli, 90+4 mins)
Belgium have stolen it, with eight seconds of stoppage time remaining!
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90+3 mins: Honda shoots from a free kick 40 yards out, and it’s an awesome shot. Courtois saved it, because it was from absolutely miles away, but it was a great effort.
90+1 mins: We’re in stoppage time now, and there really haven’t been many stoppages. Four minutes will be added. Witsel gets a foot to Nagatomo’s cross, and it might have gone in had Courtois not turned it wide!
88 mins: Kawashima does not inspire a great deal of confidence.
87 mins: Vertonghen’s 20-yarder is saved by Kawashima but the keeper doesn’t push the ball out of danger, and the offside flag saves him as Fellaini tries to get to it.
86 mins: Double save! Meunier’s cross finds Chadli, whose header is palmed away. Chadli chases down the loose ball and crosses it back in, and Lukaku’s powerful header is tipped over!
84 mins: Chance! Kagawa plays the ball to Honda, bursting deep into the penalty area, but Kompany throws himself at the ball and gets in the way of the shot.
82 mins: A Japanese double substitution: Shibasaki comes off for Yamaguchi, and Honda comes on for Haraguchi.
80 mins: Fellaini is actually basically playing as a striker now, spending most of his time inside Japan’s penalty area. Belgium have been outplayed for much of this second half, but they now have a couple of really tall blokes to aim crosses at.
77 mins: Sakai rampages down the right again, and sends in an excellent cross that’s headed to Kagawa on the edge of the area, whose pass forwards rolls out of play. Whatever energy Japan saved in killing the second half of their game against Poland has come in handy tonight.
75 mins: A remarkable match, this. Down the other end Inui gets into the area, and Alderweireld slides across to block his shot!
GOAL! Belgium 2-2 Japan (Fellaini, 74 mins)
Hazard’s delicious left-wing cross is gobbled up by Fellaini in the middle!
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73 mins: Belgium break from the corner, and at the end of it De Bruyne has a low shot from the edge of the area which is brilliantly blocked by Shoji.
72 mins: Japan remain on the front foot. Nagatomo’s excellent cross is cleared by Alderweireld.
71 mins: A Belgium corner was flapped at by Kawashima and then headed (theoretically) away from danger. But Vertonghen was there, and he had other ideas!
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GOAL! Belgium 1-2 Japan (Vertonghen, 69 mins)
Vertonghen scores with a 15-yard looping lob-header from an acute angle! What a header!
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68 mins: Meunier – Belgium’s best player – crosses again, and Yoshida does brilliantly to throw a leg between Lukaku and the goal, and the ball flies clear off it!
68 mins: So Fellaini isn’t on as a makeshift desperation centre-forward. Instead he’ll bring his flailing elbows to the midfield, allowing De Bruyne to move forwards.
66 mins: Nearly a third! Sakai scurries down the right and sends in a low centre, that Osako hits into Courtois from close range. Belgium make a double change, bringing Mertens and Carrasco off, and bringing Fellaini and Chadli on.
64 mins: “Yes, I know he’s a great player, and I know that there are different ways of doing things,” writes Matt Dony. “But, this is a moment for a captain to rally, gee-up, and inspire his teammates. Is Hazard that man? Really?” Hazard has just been caught on camera attempting to do this. So, at least he’s not totally ignoring this side of the job.
62 mins: What a chance for Belgium! An excellent cross from Meunier on the right finds the forehead of Lukaku at the near post, and after profoundly outjumping his markers he glances the header wide!
61 mins: The faces of Japan’s fans are an absolute picture. Pure, joyous incredulity.
@Simon_Burnton The Japanese flag on face paint is not a good look, looks like you've been smacked one on the snozzer.
— Paul Howarth (@TOOFEE) July 2, 2018
60 mins: Japan are playing this game perfectly right now, and with Belgium forced forwards there are massive oceans of space down their flanks. They’ve just won a corner, as a cross from the right is turned behind. “Perhaps if Courtois were shorter he would have been able to get down to one of those a bit quicker,” suggests Lee James. Any more for any more?
56 mins: Carrasco, who has been poor, blasts a shot high from the edge of the area. “Who’s throwing his legs in the air now?” asks Wendell D’Souza. With his comments about Pickford Courtois has essentially given the world an open goal, and at the moment the world is merrily knocking the ball into it.
55 mins: “If only Courtois were taller, he might have saved that,” notes Jeremy Solomon, of Japan’s opener. He asked for that, really.
53 mins: That was a class goal. Kagawa chests the ball down on the edge of the area but with defenders well placed in front of him lays it off to Inui, whose shot arrows past Courtois and into the corner!
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GOAL! Belgium 0-2 Japan (Inui, 52 mins)
And another! Inui slams it in from 25 yards!
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50 mins: The goal came on the counter-attack, after Meunier passed inside to Mertens and went for the return pass. Two defenders followed his run, and the pass back to him simply was not on, but Mertens gave it a go anyway. Ten seconds later Japan were in the lead.
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49 mins: And Belgium hit the post! It’s a nice move down the right and the ball is worked back to Hazard, on the edge of the area, whose first-time shot hits the near post!
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GOAL! Belgium 0-1 Japan (Haraguchi, 48 mins)
Japan take the lead! Vertonghen makes a total hash of an interception, allowing a long pass that should never have made it to run through to Haraguchi, who looks to dally when he needed to dash, but then unleashes a low drive that flies in at the far post!
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46 mins: Peeeeeep! Japan get the second half started.
@Simon_Burnton Kompany, KDB and Witsel have been way below par. Hazard and Lukkaku are just at par. Belgium need to wake up. Japan are tenacious and looks capable of scoring.
— Gary P (@eismcquare) July 2, 2018
Belgium have got their attacking players in possession in good areas. Their decision-making has let them down a bit, and the ball hasn’t quite fallen for them, but surely if this continues over 90 minutes it’ll come.
Japan are closing down well, and defending diligently if not always very calmly. One minor tactical observation: when Japan have the ball in their own defence Belgium’s front three drop back and position themselves very centrally, all within the width of the centre circle. The midfielders behind them then move wide, which means that if the forwards don’t put pressure on the ball their opponents are left with a very straightforward pass down the middle of the pitch into their attacking third. Japan have only done this once, but it did worry me a bit.
On the BBC, nobody has mentioned Yoshida’s shove on Lukaku. This seems strange, as a near-certain goal appeared to be prevented. “Regarding Yoshida’s shove, that’s a penalty,” writes Christopher Barnes. “Are the laws of the game even applying at this world cup? Why wasn’t that subject to VAR?”
Half time: Belgium 0-0 Japan
45 mins: No stoppage time necessary here. It’s been sterile, but played at a good tempo with plenty of interesting stuff happening. It is goalless, but for the entire game it has felt like one is just about to happen.
44 mins: Nagatomo’s shot goes straight to Osako at the near post, who is too surprised about it to spin and slam it in. It rolls off his toe and straight to Courtois, who bends down to pick it up and somehow misses it. Sadly nobody is on hand to convert this from embarrassing mistake to one of the all-time great World Cup goalie howlers.
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43 mins: Shoji does a lovely 360-degree spin away from trouble just outside his own penalty area. He’s so happy about it that he immediately passes the ball straight back to a Belgian.
41 mins: Hazard has the ball, Lukaku makes a run ahead of him, and he doesn’t make the pass because Shibasaki trips him from behind. Yellow card.
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39 mins: Japan aren’t so much competing here as being tenderised. This has the feel of a thrashing waiting to happen. “How nice that Fifa allowed both teams to play in their first kit,” notes Kari Tulinius. “The only consistently annoying thing at this World Cup has been Fifa’s overzealous rulings on kit clashes. It feels right to watch the Red Devils in red and Samurai Blue in blue.” I agree on all counts.
36 mins: Japan have a good period of possession, which ends with them giving the ball away in their own half and Hazard and then Witsel having shots that are blocked and blazed over, respectively.
34 mins: Japan play a long ball to the left wing, which leaves Nagatomo, at 5ft 6in, attempting to win a header against Meunier. He doesn’t.
31 mins: Japan have a chance! It’s a decent move, which ends with a Nagatomo cross from the left, and Inui heading at Courtois.
28 mins: Belgium go close again! The corner is played short, and De Bruyne’s eventual cross finds Kompany alone at the far post, whose flying volley from an acute angle goes entirely the wrong way, away from goal.
27 mins: Belgium work a good shooting chancec for De Bruyne, who miskicks horribly, and a much less good shooting chance for Hazard, whose excellent power drive is punched clear.
25 mins: Chaos! Mertens crosses, and the ball lands on the foot of Lukaku, five yards out. He totally fluffs his finish, possibly because Yoshida, the defender trailing in his wake, managed to give him a crafty shove, and the ball bobbles about a bit before Kawashima finally falls on it.
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24 mins: Carrasco gives the ball away twice in half a minute, and gets a dirty look from Hazard for his troubles.
23 mins: This is looking ominous for Japan, who are struggling to cope with the pace and movement of Belgium’s front three. They are clinging on uncomfortably.
21 mins: A nice move gets the ball to Lukaku, on the edge of the area. He turns, shoots, and the ball flies wide off the lunging, blocking Nagatomo.
18 mins: Lukaku chests the ball down inside the penalty area, but he can’t spin and get a shot away because Hasebe is standing in front of him, chest-to-chest, in an armless hug.
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16 mins: Witsel’s shot is deflected high, and Japan bring everybody back into their own penalty area to defend the corner. Which, in the end, they do.
15 mins: Hazard picks up the ball and drives down the middle of the field, with six blue shirts around him, who eventually force him to turn back.
13 mins: Japan keep the ball for a long time, knocking it around their defence before eventually moving into Belgium’s half and hitting a long pass straight out of play.
10 mins: Japan are offering an attacking threat, and Inui’s cross is headed away by Kompany, with Kagawa on the floor inside the penalty area and demanding, in vain, a penalty for whatever it was Vertonghen was up to.
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9 mins: Carrasco plays a one-two and bursts into the box, but Yoshida gets across to boot the ball clear of danger.
6 mins: Hazard goes down again, but this time the referee tells him to get up. Japan seem to visibly wobble every time he gets the ball.
4 mins: Hazard, trying to wriggle between them, becomes the meat in a Shibasaki-Hasebe sandwich. Free kick.
1 min: A shot! The first of the game comes from the left foot of Kagawa, but trundles comfortably wide.
1 min: They’re off! Belgium get the game under way.
The teams are ready, and the game will kick off as soon as the referee gets the all clear.
“So, Japan get through to the group stages by slightly nefarious means, eliminating Senegal in the process, and the referee for their next game is from ... Senegal,” notes Shaun Wilkinson. “Should they maybe have sorted that out differently, just for the avoidance of argument?” It’s a fair point, and it could add bonus extra controversy to any controversial moments.
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If you want to see people in Russia watch other people in Russia play football, you can!
The players are out! And here are Japan’s players fine-tuning their kettling tactics during the warm-up.
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Belgium want to make history at this World Cup, and the good news is that they already have:
10 - Belgium have made 10 changes to their starting line-up against Japan - the most in a World Cup match since Spain v Saudi Arabia in World Cup 2006 (11 changes for Spain). Refreshed.#BEL #JPN #BELJPN #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/fzSxXPa6L9
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 2, 2018
“Referring to the earlier chart from the Mr. Men book,” writes Ludvig, “I believe Neymar proved during the Mexico v Brazil game that he is the offspring of Mr Bump and Mr Nonsense. Mr Jelly and Mr Noisy are probably also a part of his ancestry though.” I don’t understand why evidently and demonstrably absurd overacting in a bid to waste time (Thiago Silva knocked about four minutes off the game at one point while he received apparently life-saving treatment in the second half today, before getting to his feet and immediately rejoining the fray) or get opponents punished isn’t itself punished, or even talked about. Brazil are one of the best teams in the tournament, but also insufferable thespians.
This is what Reuters has to say about the line-ups:
The Belgium central defender Vincent Kompany returned to the line-up to face Japan in their World Cup last 16 clash on Monday, his first start at the tournament after picking up a groin strain in a warm-up match a month ago.
Kompany, Belgium’s veteran defensive talisman, comes in for Dedryck Boyata and will be partnered by Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld in a back three while playmaker Eden Hazard retains the captaincy.
Romelu Lukaku is also back as the central striker, with coach Roberto Martinez recalling his biggest-name players after fielding practically a reserve team in their 1-0 win over England in their final Group G game.
Japan manager Akira Nishino has picked the same 11 players that drew 2-2 against Senegal in their penultimate group game, restoring Shinji Kagawa, Takashi Inui, Genki Haraguchi and Yuya Osako as his side, as he targets reaching the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time after failing twice in the last 16.
Nishino had been criticised for rotating his squad and for his negative tactics in Japan’s 1-0 defeat by Poland in their final Group H game that saw them scrape into the second round.
Today’s referee, Malang Diedhiou, lists his occupation as “chief inspector of customs” and his hobbies as reading. This is his third match of the tournament, after Costa Rica 0-1 Serbia and Uruguay 3-0 Russia.
Teams
Here are the teams again, in a text-only form for those who can’t see embedded tweets.
Belgium: Courtois, Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen, Meunier, De Bruyne, Witsel, Carrasco, Mertens, Lukaku, Eden Hazard.
Subs: Mignolet, Vermaelen, Fellaini, Thorgan Hazard, Tielemans, Januzaj, Dembele, Boyata, Batshuayi, Chadli, Dendoncker, Casteels.
Japan: Kawashima, Hiroki Sakai, Yoshida, Shoji, Nagatomo, Hasebe, Shibasaki, Haraguchi, Kagawa, Inui, Osako.
Subs: Higashiguchi, Ueda, Honda, Endo, Okazaki, Usami, Muto, Yamaguchi, Oshima, Makino, Gotoku Sakai, Nakamura.
Referee: Malang Diedhiou (Senegal).
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“That kid isn’t paying a guitar, he’s playing a zitar,” writes Bob O’Hara of the photo at the bottom of the page. “The kid next to him is, of course, playing a baby zitar.” It’s not a zitar either. I believe it’s a balalaika. Either that, or it’s Mr Rush (far right, third row down).
Apology accepted, and unnecessary. Frankly any excuse to play Alphaville’s 80s stonker is a good thing as far as I’m concerned.
@Simon_Burnton
— PKelly (@paulkellington) July 2, 2018
Oh, when you're Belgium Japan, tonight
Belgium Japan, be tight
Belgium Japan, ooh the eastern sea's so blue
Belgium Japan, alright
Pay, then I'll sleep by your side
Things are easy when you're Belgium Japan
Oh, when you're Belgium Japan
sorry#BELJAP
Having received this photograph of Japan’s dressing room I can exclusively reveal that their tactics involve kettling the entire Belgium team inside the centre circle.
The teams are in, and here they are:
We have our teams for #BELJPN! #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/hDFXg7n6Kg
— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) July 2, 2018
Hello world!
There are no African teams left at the World Cup. There are no teams from Oceania, none since Brazil’ win this afternoon from North or Central America. Japan are the last survivors from Asia; within a couple of hours this could be an entirely Uefa v Conmebol “World” Cup.
This, though, could be quite a match. Belgium rested half their squad for their final group game against England. Japan rested their entire squad for a good part of their final group game, against Poland. So there should be no problem with tiredness. Japan actually have a head-to-head advantage over their opponents, having won two of their five previous meetings and lost only once, 1-0 in Bruges last November.
Roberto Martinez says:
The group is in a very good moment. Mentally and physically, you just get the feeling the players are desperate to be on the pitch. Japan have footballers with an incredible energy and a great capacity to get really high up the pitch very quickly. They know what it takes to win a game of this calibre. This is a group of players that know what they are doing. I expect a very difficult game. They are capable of creating problems due to the dynamic approach that they have.
Akira Nishino says:
The game is a huge challenge, Belgium are a formidable foe. We have been here twice in the past in the round of 16 but this is different, we haven’t exhausted ourselves yet so we can create a new opportunity. The players and coaching staff would like to create something big. [And comparing this match to Japan’s last two World Cup knock-out ties, against Turkey in 2002 and Paraguay in 2010, both lost] In those games our players were exhausted, they had nothing left, they had left everything in the group stage. This is our third time in the last 16 and we have been very tactical in our approach. We chose to save our energy in that [final] 10 minutes [against Poland], so we should be able to run that much extra.
Important musical update
Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa are No1 in Belgium at the moment with One Kiss, but as that’s a former UK chart-topper and thus a little bit boring here’s their No2, La Même by Maître GIMS featuring Vianney:
Japan is a bit more complicated, a land it seems of many charts. But Hatusukoi by Hikaru Utada seems to be very high in all of them:
News just in: boy plays world’s most outsized guitar
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