Belgium 3-2 Japan: Three things Japan got wrong

Substitutes Marouane Fellaini and Nacer Chadli inspired Belgium to a famous comeback from two goals down to defeat Japan in an enthralling World Cup Round-of-16 encounter.

After a goalless first half, the Asian outfit stunned the tournament favourites as Genki Haraguchi and Takashi Inui capitalized on defensive errors by Jan Vertonghen and Vincent Kompany to put their side 2-0 up within seven minutes of the restart.

Belgium manager Roberto Martinez responded by introducing Fellaini and Chadli in the 65th minute to devastating effect. Jan Vertonghen atoned for his own error leading to Japan’s first goal with a header from long range to halve the deficit before Fellaini rose highest from Eden Hazard’s cross to plant a thunderous header past Eiji Kawashima to level matters in the 74th minute.

The comeback was completed in the dying seconds as Belgium counter-attacked from a Japanese corner, resulting in Thomas Meunier’s low cross left alone by Romelu Lukaku and slotted home by Chadli to spark off wild scenes in a relieved Belgian camp.

We analyze the key areas where Japan threw the game away in an unforgettable encounter at Rostov:-

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#3 Sending players up for the injury-time corner

Chadli (22) slotted home from a swift break after Japan's corner was cleared

94th minute, the scores are level at 2-2. The underdogs in such a situation would have ideally settled for extra-time and in the process, achieved a mental victory by taking the favourites all the way to the death. However, Japan decided to go for the kill within regulation time by committing men forward for a corner they won in injury-time.

The gamble failed spectacularly, as Belgium cleared their lines to initiate a counter-attack. With the world-class players that Belgium possess in their ranks that make up their golden generation of players, the result of that break was inevitable. Kevin de Bruyne provided the defence-splitting pass, Thomas Meunier crossed for Romelu Lukaku, who had the immense presence of mind to dummy it to an advancing and un-tracked Nacer Chadli to finish the job and with it, the fightback to send Japan to their knees.

The only explanation for Japan’s decision to go for the win could have been a psychological one, as they had already been hampered by throwing away a 2-goal advantage and the manager may have been sceptical about his team’s mental strength to last a further 30 minutes.

#2 Failing to set the right markers for aerially strong players like Fellaini

Japan seemed unprepared to deal with Fellaini's presence

With Japan going two goals up against all the odds, it was always likely that Roberto Martinez was going to introduce his trump card in Marouane Fellaini to be the target man in the event of set-pieces. Manchester United, in particular, Jose Mourinho, utilize him to that capacity and it was going to be no different in Belgian colours.

Japan’s failure to be prepared for such an event was appalling, as Fellaini posed a threat as soon as he came on, winning each header in the air and playing knockdowns for his teammates to take an attack forward. The Asian side paid the ultimate price within minutes of his introduction, as a weakly cleared Belgian corner was back in possession of Eden Hazard, who took a split second to identify Fellaini’s position before delivering an inch-perfect cross. The big, burly figure had no qualms in jumping in between 2 Japanese markers to power a header past the Japanese goalkeeper to wipe out the deficit.

If anything, it was down to Japan’s poor decision making as to who should mark Fellaini in the event of set-pieces. Maya Yoshida, who plays for Southampton in the Premier League, could be held guilty to a large extent for not organizing his markers to quell Fellaini’s threat in the box. That error proved to be fatal to Japan’s chances of progressing to what would have been their first-ever World Cup quarterfinal.

#1 Japan’s lack of creativity hamper them after losing their lead

Osako is not a prolific striker

From the outset, it was evident that if Japan were going to cause an upset, they were going to need a favour or two from their opponents. Which is exactly what transpired. A couple of defensive lapses gave Japan an unlikely two-goal lead, first by Vertonghen who should have cut off a Gaku Shibasaki through-pass to Haraguchi followed by captain Vincent Kompany, whose weak header went straight to Shinji Kagawa, who laid the ball perfectly for Inui to attempt a long-range shot.

But Japan could not get over the top of themselves. They are not the most creative side in the World Cup – their forward Yuya Osako has scored just 8 times in 30 appearances and has netted a mere 15 times in 4 seasons for FC Koln in the Bundesliga. So if Belgium were to stage a comeback – they were always bound to do so looking at the quality of their attack as well as their bench – it would be tactically and mentally difficult for Japan to regain the confidence to earn a lead in the game again. They had just 4 shots on target the entire game, so carving out chances was not their strength.

The lack of a killer pass or a quality cross one could easily associate with a Belgian side would find Japan out later in the game and that was exactly what transpired once the Europeans made it 2-2. The momentum, along with whatever limited creativity Japan possessed, was gone and once the third goal went in, time had gone as well.