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#3 - Defending On The Front Foot
Japan very nearly took the game away from Belgium. A large part of the credit has to go to Japan’s defensive game.
Japan’s defending style was very different, you would have noticed, from Russia’s own (even more) impressive defense. Where Russia cemented two banks of defenders in front of Akinfeev, Japan, remarkably, chose to press high up.
Liverpool fans would have noticed shades of Jurgen Klopp’s iconic gegenpressing in the way the Japanese front four arrowed into the Belgian defensive line every time they tried to play the ball out from the back. Yuya Osako, and Shinji Kagawa took turns in leading a relentless Japanese counter-press much like Firmino did week in week out at Anfield last season.
Right from the first phase of the game, Kompany, Vertonghen, and, especially, Courtois seemed to be seriously caught off-guard with the relentlessness of Japan’s pressing. They were expecting to have comfortable time and space on the ball. Japan did not give them both.
