Keysher Fuller (#4) of Costa Rica celebrates after scoring a goal in the FIFA World Cup game against Japan at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Qatar, November 27, 2022. /CFP
Costa Rica defeated Japan 1-0 in their second game in Group E at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Sunday. Their victory added another team with three points in this group: Spain, Japan and now Costa Rica.
Japan carried on their strategy from the 2-1 win over Germany: saving strength in the first half to punch harder in the second. Costa Rica, which were -7 in goal differences due to the heavy loss to Spain, were even less passionate than Japan about pressing forward. As a result, the two sides generated one of the most boring first halves so far of the tournament at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.
Japan replaced Ayase Ueda with Takuma Asano during the halftime break, which seemed to be manager Hajime Mariyasu's sign to his players to change the pace. From he first minute in the second half, Japan sped up and began to attack Costa Rica's box in a much more aggressive way.
Goalkeeper Keylor Navas (#1) rejects a shot by Takuma Asano (#18) of Japan in the FIFA World Cup game at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Qatar, November 27, 2022. /CFP
The Samurai Blue (Japan's nickname) created several opportunities but failed to score. Their attacking combination of Daichi Kamada, Yuki Soma and Ritsu Doan were all in too poor forms to seize the chances. Meanwhile, Costa Rica's veteran goalkeeper Keylor Navas was solid enough to keep all of Japan's attempts out of the goal.
Compared with their defense, Costa Rica didn't prove much on offense even in the second half. They didn't have one shot on goal for the first 80 minutes of the game. However, the situation took a dramatic turn in the 81st minute. Hiroki Ito interrupted a pass of Costa Rica and headed the ball to Maya Yoshida, who then flopped it to Hidemasa Morita.
Keysher Fuller (#4) of Costa Rica shoots to score in the FIFA World Cup game against Japan at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Qatar, November 27, 2022. /CFP
Somehow, Morita failed to control the ball and fell to the ground. Neither did he clear the ball, and it landed at the feet of Yeltsin Tejeda. Tejeda drove forward and then passed to Keysher Fuller who was open on the edge of the box. Fuller shot at Japan's goal. Though goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda touched the ball, he couldn't stop it from flying into the net.
Having trailed 1-0, Japan immediately sent Takumi Minamino to the game, but still couldn't reverse the situation. The result threw Group E into chaos. Germany, which lost to Japan 2-1 in their first game, will play against Spain later on Sunday. If they win, each of the four teams in this group will have three points. That means nothing can be confirmed until the final games are finished.
Japan will play Spain in their third game on December 1 while Germany will face Costa Rica on the same day.