The Blue Samurai debut in the 2014 FIFA World Cup was at home against fellow 2010 FIFA World Cup finalists North Korea in Saitama. Japan were the aggressors throughout the match and merited all three points despite the absences of Keisuke Honda, Yuto Nagatomo and Kengo Nakamura. Japan dominated the game, garnering more than three-fifths of the possession and outshooting their opponents 20-5. However, the game went to the half scoreless.In the second half, Japan continued to be more dangerous than their passive opponents. Japan hit two crossbars late in the second half, including one hit by subsitute Mike Havenaar in his national team debut. The rain and the defensive stance adopted by notorious scoreless draw connoisseurs North Korea almost earned the road side a draw, but Maya Yoshida buried a header deep in stoppage time to seal a well-deserved 1-0 win.
Later in the day, Uzbekistan visited neighboring Tajikistan, though we assume they did not get their by walking across their mine-infested border. Tajikistan, a last minute replacement for the disqualified Syria, did not televise their home match because an important political summit in the country preempted any coverage of the match. The first half went by scoreless.
The second half threatened to be devoid of scoring as well until Alexander Geynrikh was brought down in the box, leading to an Uzbekistan penalty kick. Maksim Shatskikh had his effort blocked, but pounced on the rebound to slot home the winner with under twenty minutes to play. Tajikistan nearly equalized two mintues from time but had their shot cleared off the line by Uzbekistan's goalie Ignatiy Nesterov. The 1-0 result held for the visitors, who moved to the joint top of the group before hosting Japan on Tuesday. Tajikistan will travel to North Korea on Tuesday.
Goals:
Japan
Maya Yoshida 90+4
Uzbekistan
Maksim Shatskikh 72
Match Reports:
Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QO4g-g8YPA (Japan v. North Korea)
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