Skilful Japan nullify Senegal's physical might in classic World Cup draw

Japan vs Senegal football World Cup Group H encounter at the Ekaterinburg Arena

Japan and Senegal played one of the best matches of the Fifa World Cup 2018 as they locked horns in their second Group H encounter of the FIFA World Cup 2018 at the Ekaterinburg Arena in Russia on Sunday. 

The match has been one of the most balanced matches so far in the tournament with both teams playing end to end football. However, it was Senegal who broke the deadlock thanks to Sadio mane and a goalkeeping error by the Japanese goalie Kawashima. Japan looked weak in their defence because of obvious physical weakness.

The match changed after the Inui scored a brilliant low shot curler beating the Senegalese defenders. Before the build-up to the goal, Japan was looking dangerous with their attacking prowess. 

In the build-up to the 2nd half, the onus was on Senegal who haven't lost any of the previous 14 international matches that Sadio Mane has scored in, winning nine games and drawing the other five. 

Japan started the 2nd half brilliant and had the better chances. Osako missed an easy chance following a brilliant cut back from his compartment in the 60th minute. Within minutes Japan's Inui attempted a brilliant curler which hit the top right post. Japan's attacking possession went in vain as M Wague from Senegal scored in the 71st minute.

However, the Blue Samurais never gave up and made a few changes which did the work. Kagawa was substituted for the veteran Honda, who is famous for his dead balls in the final third. Within minutes, Honda got his chance from a cut back from Inui and scored his 4th World Cup goal to become the top-scoring Asian player in World Cup history.

Following the Honda goal, there were hardly any clear cut chances as both the teams were running in reserved fuel. The draw takes Japan and Senegal to 4 points each with the same goal difference. 

In the end, 90 minutes could not separate the two sides, in what was a brilliant display of football from both teams.

Japan and Senegal should ultimately be happy with the final result as both the teams could have netted more goals.

Next up for Japan is a meeting with Poland on June 28th, which will take place at the same time as Senegal’s fixture against Colombia. The group H is all open and up for grabs.

Senegal haven't lost any of the previous 14 international matches that Sadio Mané has scored in, winning nine games and drawing the other five. 

Updates: 

78 min:

Japan legend Honda scores after a brillaint cut back pass from Inui. 

71min: M Wague scores from an Niang assist

60 min: Osako misses a screamer following a brilliant cut back from his compartment.

49 min: Japan are playing good possession football in the starting minutes of the 2nd half.

Trivia:

Keisuke Honda becomes the oldest scorer for Japan in the World Cup.

Riding on confidence after victories in their respective opening fixtures, Japan and Senegal are locking horns in their second Group H encounter of the FIFA World Cup 2018 at the Ekaterinburg Arena in Russia on Sunday. 

The match has been one of the most balanced matches so far in the tournament with both teams playing end to end football in the first half. However, it was Senegal who broke the deadlock thanks to Sadio mane and a goalkeeping error by the Japanese goalie Kawashima. Japan looked weak in their defence because of obvious physical weakness.

However, the match changed after the Inui scored a brilliant low shot curler beating the Senegalese defenders. Before the build-up to the goal, Japan has been continuously looking to threaten with their attacking prowess. 

The game is up for grabs for both the teams but a strange fact is in favour for Senegal as Senegal haven't lost any of the previous 14 international matches that Sadio Mané has scored in, winning nine games and drawing the other five. 

Trivia: 

Senegal have won three of their six World Cup matches, giving them the best win rate of any African nation to play in the competition (50%)

Takashi Inui has scored 3 goals in his last 3 games with Japan, more than in his first 26 (2).

A win on Sunday will virtually seal a pre-quarterfinal berth for the winner.

Updates

34min: Inui scores a low curler for Japan.

26min: Nagatomo gets in behind the Senegal left-back, but his cross is very poor and hit to the near post where a defender gets to it first to clear the potential danger. 

11 min: Sadio Mane scores after a mistake by the Japanese goal keeper

Trivia

Senegal have won three of their six World Cup matches, giving them the best win rate of any African nation to play in the competition (50%)

Senegal haven't lost any of the previous 14 international matches that Sadio Mané has scored in, winning nine games and drawing the other five. 

Here are the line-ups for Japan vs Senegal match

Teams

Japan: Kawashima; Sakai, Yoshida, Shoji, Nagatomo; Hasebe, Shibasaki; Haraguchi, Kagawa, Inui; Osako

Subs: Ueda, Honda, Endo, Okazaki, Usami, Higashiguchi, Muto, Yamaguchi, Ohshima, Makino, Sakai, Nakamura

Senegal: Ndiaye; Sabaly, Koulibaly, Sané, Wagué; B Ndiaye, A Ndiaye, Gueye; Sarr, Niang Mané

Subs: Diallo, Mbodj, Mbengue, Sow, Kouyaté, Diouf, Ndoye, Konaté, Sakho, Baldé, Gassama, Gomis

Japan on Tuesday became the first ever Asian nation to beat South American opposition at a World Cup when they pipped Colombia 2-1.

The Asian giants' win against Colombia was one of the biggest surprises of the ongoing mega event and the Akira Nishino-coached side will be eager to dish out yet another spirited show.

Japan midfielder Genki Haraguchi said his side will focus on strengthening their defence on Sunday, which will also enhance their attacking ability.

"We had to start by building the base, which is defence," Haraguchi was quoted as saying by Kyodo news agency.

"But with that base in place, our ability to attack and respond to different situations is increasing," he added.

Meanwhile, Japan skipper Makoto Hasebe felt that despite a major win, his side has to be grounded as Senegal will be a completely different story.

"We must keep our feet on the ground, we have to take into account that we played against 10 men for almost 90 minutes," Hasebe said, referring to Carlos Sanchez's dismissal which gave Japan the advantage against Colombia.

Senegal on the other hand, too came out with an impressive all-round show against Poland, beating them 2-1.

The Africans will be looking to continue the momentum from that unexpected victory into their next game.

Most of the Senegal players feature in different Europen clubs and with plenty of experience, they could make life tough for Japan.

After scoring his first international goal, which proved to be a decisive second for Senegal against Poland, M'Baye Niang said that the story is still not over as they have a lot more to achieve.

"My benefit, of which you speak, is the work of a whole group," Niang said.

"We must not give up and we must continue to work. Nothing is yet acquired, we must continue to work to achieve our goal," he added.

Come Sunday, Senegal head coach Aliou Cisse would likely set a 4-4-2 formation once again and no major changes are expected in the starting XI.

Senegal 1st match preview:

With the first round of group stages coming to a close at Fifa World Cup 2018, Group H has seen some dramatic changes in the leaderboard. Japan defeated its more-fancied opponent Colombia, while Senegal beat Poland, shaking the expert's favourites list.

They’re the first African team out of the five playing in the tournament to win at this summer’s World Cup.

Poland's loss can be credited to their defensive errors. In the 37th minute, a low drive shot from Idrissa Gueye deflected off Thiago Cionek's shin to give Mane's men lead in the game. Wojciech Szczęsny was hopelessly wrong-footed for the deflection. This was the first error in error-prone Poland's game on Tuesday.

Poland's second tomfoolery came in the 57th minute. Gregorz Krychowiak clipped a ball from 50 yards for the keeper. The ball landed in no man's land with a clear advantage to M’Baye Niang, who with neat chip gained a full access to the exposed goal.

Krychowiak pulled back for Poland scoring a goal with a header and compensated for his villainy, but it wasn’t enough.

Apart from these errors, Poland were highly ineffective in the midfield. Senegal thoroughly exploited the wings to take the edge over their rivals. Robert Lewandowski was criminally underutilised in the first half. Poland's highest scorer in the qualifying campaign was not supplied with the adequate passes.

Senegal can be credited as thoroughly deserving winners. Poland need to do lot more homework if they want to qualify from a suddenly wide-open group.
 

Japan's 1st match preview

And that was the full-time whistle. Japan capitalised on Colombia's red card. The Japan win has thrown open the Group H. Nobody would have ever imagined that Japan could win over their more-fancied opponents.

This was Japan’s first World Cup win in Europe, and their first against South American opposition.

Even after a penalty against them, Colombia had the first half but Japan's reinvigorated push in the second half made them win this game.

Osako cancelled out Quintero's clever free-kick with an emphatic header in 73rd minute. 

Japan 23-man final squad:

Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Metz), Masaaki Higashiguchi (Gamba Osaka), Kosuke Nakamura (Kashiwa Reysol)

Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo (Galatasaray), Tomoaki Makino (Urawa Reds), Wataru Endo (Urawa Reds), Maya Yoshida (Southampton), Hiroki Sakai (Marseille), Gotoku Sakai (Hamburg), Gen Shoji (Kashima Antlers), Naomichi Ueda (Kashima Antlers)

Midfielders: Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt), Keisuke Honda (Pachuca), Takashi Inui (Eibar), Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund), Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka), Genki Haraguchi (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Takashi Usami (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Gaku Shibasaki (Getafe), Ryota Oshima (Kawasaki Frontale)

Forwards: Shinji Okazaki (Leicester), Yuya Osako (Werder Bremen), Yoshinori Muto (Mainz)

Senegal's 23-man squad

Goalkeepers: Abdoulaye Diallo (Rennes), Alfred Gomis (SPAL), Khadim Ndiaye (Horoya)

Defenders: Lamine Gassama (Alanyaspor), Saliou Ciss (Valenciennes), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Kara Mbodii (Anderlecht), Youssouf Sabaly (Bordeaux), Salif Sane (Hannover), Moussa Wague (Eupen);

Midfielders: Idrissa Gueye (Everton), Cheikhou Kouyate (West Ham United), Alfred Ndiaye (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Badou Ndiaye (Stoke City), Cheikh Ndoye (Birmingham City), Ismaila Sarr (Rennes);

Forwards: Keita Balde (Monaco), Mame Biram Diouf (Stoke City), Moussa Konate (Amiens), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Mbaye Niang (Torino), Diafra Sakho (Rennes), Moussa Sow (Bursaspor).

Here is the group standing list for Japan and Senegal

Japan vs Senegal: When and Where to watch

Time: 5:30 PM (IST)

In today's Group H match, Japan vs Senegal match will take place in Ekaterinburg Arena on Sunday, June 24, 2018, at 8:30 PM (IST).

Japan vs Senegal match will be broadcast on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD in English Commentary and Sony Ten 3 and Sony 3 HD in Hindi Commentary.

Japan vs Senegal match will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv also. And Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective subscribers.