(Football news) Japan stunned four time World Cup winners Germany with an incredible 2-1 win at the Khalifa International Stadium with goals from Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano. Japan had never defeated their opponents before this match but showed great mentality, capitalising on errors and being clinical in front of goal. They had an early ‘goal’ from Daizen Maeda ruled out for offside while Germany took the lead in the 33rd minute through Ilkay Gundogan from the spot when goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda committed a clumsy challenge on David Raum. Hansi Flick’s side thought they had a second when Kai Havertz found the back of the net, only for the attempt to be ruled out for offside.

Germany, who hadn’t lost a World Cup fixture while leading at halftime since 1978 were in for a rude awakening in the second half as Doan, who came on as a substitute in the 71st minute scored just four minutes later to make it 1-1. To make matters worse, the Germans then conceded a second through Asano in the 83rd minute as the player scored from a tight angle, much to goalkeeper Manuel Neuer’s frustration, who should have done better. Germany, who didn’t progress beyond the Group Stage in 2018 could potentially suffer the same fate yet again as their next match is against Spain, who defeated Costa Rica 7-0 in their opening match. A defeat against the 2010 winners would virtually signal an end for their World Cup campaign. 

A talking point before kick off was when Germany players covered their mouths in the team picture in an apparent freedom of speech protest. It came after FIFA had threatened to sanction teams if they wore a 'OneLove' armband during the World Cup. A tweet by the DFB later said “With our captain's armband, we wanted to set an example for values ​​that we live in the national team: diversity and mutual respect. Be loud together with other nations. This is not about a political message: human rights are non-negotiable. That should go without saying. But unfortunately it still isn't. That is why this message is so important to us. Banning us from the bandage is like banning our mouths. Our stance stands." 

Speaking after the match, Germany manager Hansi Flick said “With this defeat and zero points, we are under pressure, no question about it. We can only blame ourselves. It's a great disappointment. We were on the right path in the first half, we had 78 per cent possession and were ahead 1-0. Then we had good chances in the second half that we didn't take advantage of. Japan was simply more efficient today. We made mistakes that we should never commit, especially in a World Cup and those are the things that we need to improve on." Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said “I am totally frustrated and angry that we let this game slip, it was not necessary. After the break we no longer had this game flow and did not play with the same confidence as in the first half. We are now under pressure from the start. That was also the most important game of how you start in a tournament but we messed it up." 

Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said “We wanted to start playing aggressively, we wanted to dominate the game. But Germany are very strong so we needed to defend persistently and take our chances. At the end they came at us with the full power, in the past maybe we would have lost but the players have been playing in Germany and Europe they've learned so much from that, so we held on. United as one, we needed to hang tough until the final whistle went and we were able to grasp our opportunity." 

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