It was a heartbreaking loss for Japan against Belgium. After being 2-0 up and playing dangerously, they got defeated at the very end of the match. Belgium managed to overcome the deficit with an equalising goal from Marouane Fellaini. Then Japan fought for the victory, but that was a kamikaze move because they became highly vulnerable to the counter-attack. After a corner, Belgium could penetrate the space that Japan left and Chadli the other substitution scored at an end of the quick break. Thus in spite of the great performance from Japan, Belgium can continue his journey in Russia.
It is unlikely that anyone predicted that Belgium would struggle that much against Japan. Also, it was unseen that Belgium could almost drop out, but Japan showed excellent examples of organised play, humble and hungry for the success. Belgium until that point was not really tested defensively and also in overall, but Japan showed what is the weakness of the Belgian team.
Team News
Both sides put the best possible team on the field and with the regular formations. Roberto Martinez sticks with the 3-4-2-1 structure, which showed some flaws this time. It is still just out of necessity, not a fit choice for the squad, therefore the limitations of it came up.
While Japan played in the base 4-2-3-1 shape.
Japan threatening at the left
Surprisingly, Japan instead of playing as an underdog or with a defensive manner rather opted for a quite brave play. They were dangerous in attacks, while organised in defence. During the first half, in particular, Japan enjoyed great success attacking down the left-hand side of the field in their attacking phase. Whilst Belgium defending they formed 5-3-2 with a narrow backline, therefore Japan was able to take advantage of it and penetrate the space in the left wing. In this situation below, the Kagawa ball-carrier had two options for passing because of the fact that they made a big effort on getting behind the opponent defensive line on the left side, thus Nagatomo or Hasebe usually joined for Inui.
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