Japan are pretty much destined to always be the bridesmaid, never the bride. They're not quite good enough to play like this, but they can't defend either. It's like the team version of those small skill forwards who are not quite good enough to be NHL stars and don't have the physicality or toughness to be utility players, so they end up career minor leaguers/European league guys.
Russia has another game to play, I doubt Japan will. It's unfortunate because you want to see their style rewarded, but cynicism has always paid off in this sport.
There's much in what you say, and as Belgium broke upfield to score the winner I was asking myself how on earth Japan could have been caught so thin at the back- that was flat out reckless.
Yet, that moment apart, I'm unsure how much cynicism could have helped them given that to all intents and purposes they not only didn't have a goalkeeper but couldn't counter Belgium's aerial threat. I think attack was a far wiser form of defence than inviting Belgium nearer their own end with the constant risk that either the keeper would cost them a goal or they'd be brutalised jumping for a high ball.
I missed the first half, but in the second I was impressed by how much Japan got out of what they had. Kagawa aside they possessed little real flair on the ball, but they moved and ran smartly enough to compensate. Perhaps they could have controlled the pace of the game better late on, but I'd say that's splitting hairs. The sense I had was that over an extra 30 minutes Belgium's physical advantage and superior star quality would have told, and I wonder whether maybe Japan at heart felt the same, throwing caution to the wind as a result.
They're the sort of team that once upon a time English journalists would have called 'valiant'. If nothing else, they did themselves justice- which is more than can be said of a number of supposedly more sophisticated outfits.
Vertonghen's goal reminded me a touch Uwe Seeler's header against England in 1970. If the BBC are to be believed, Belgium is the first team to overturn a 2-0 deficit to win a World Cup knockout tie since that famous game in Mexico.
Returning to this game, in the minutes preceding Vertonghen's header everything had been pointing to increased Belgian pressure bringing about a goal. But I suspect the manner in which they scored was decisive because it meant suddenly a team awash with attacking weapons and possessed of a clear tactical advantage was in the scoreboard without having done anything right.
