How Japan earned their win against Spain

29-Jul-2012 5:15:00 PM

Japan's victory over Spain shocked everyone but the fact is that they deserved to win the game comfortably and that's probably the most impressive aspect of their triumph...

No one saw it coming but once it happened, it wasn’t that hard to believe. Prior to kick-off, Spain’s superiority did not go understated. However, La Roja was met by a fearless, confident side on the pitch and understandably succumbed to their aggressiveness. The record will show that Japan narrowly beat Spain at the 2012 Olympics by a solitary goal but in reality, the game should have been put beyond the Spaniards.

Spain started well and passed the ball around patiently, expecting an opening to be created eventually. Japan had no intention of parking the bus but they kept their defence organized and chased the Spaniards down enthusiastically. Japan always looked to operate on the counter. Eventually, the Japanese took advantage of a poorly organized Spanish defence when a delivery from a corner was drilled in from close range by Yuki Otsu.

Japan could have extended their lead a few minutes later but Kiyotake put his effort wide after rounding David de Gea. In the 41’st minute, Inigo Martinez was given his marching orders for bringing down Nagai as the last man. Spain’s problems were instantly compounded.

The rest of the game saw Spain continue to dominate possession while Japan created the best chances on the break. If not for Japan’s extremely poor finishing and De Gea’s saves, the score-line could well have turned into an embarrassment for Spain. In fact, the Japanese would not be blamed for feeling aggrieved by the score-line.

Spain’s display was a far cry from what we’ve come to expect from them. Inevitably, they were comfortable in possession but never troubled Japan’s goal nearly enough. They had a whopping 65% of ball possession but only managed a miserly 6 shots on goal. If you do the math, that’s approximately an average of 1 shot for every 10 minutes of possession. When you think about it, one shot for every ten minutes of an entire game would make for an extremely monotonous encounter to say the least but a shot in every ten minutes of just one side’s possession is just criminal. Japan on the other hand, managed an impressive 12 shots at goal from their 35% which works up to 1 shot every 2.5 minutes!

Spain	Stats	Japan
0	Goals	1
65%	Possession	35%
60	Possession in minutes	32
6	Shots at goal	12
10	Minutes of possession per shot	2.5

The Spanish defending was in tatters every time they were attacked on the counter. The organization for the corner kick that lead to the goal was weak. Extraordinarily, they failed to work the Japanese keeper too much who many would have expected to be a lot busier but as it turned out, it was David de Gea who had to be on his toes to pull off a couple of fine saves.

Japan deserve to be commended for their outstanding display. Their players’ energy and work-rate were unmatched by those of Spain’s while their ability to play football and make their possession count were the decisive factors. They offered the Spanish no respite and never resorted to defending in numbers on the edge of their own box. They were brave enough to set themselves up for the counter and flooded forward at every opportunity to break.

Granted, Spain’s tiki-taka style of play is envious and has been effective but they must be alert to the possibility that teams are starting to catch on and may be identifying areas of weaknesses. Their central defence is not nearly as accomplished as it was for the Euros and exposing it to effective counter-attacks while their full-backs are caught up field could be fatal.

Japan will be hugely encouraged by this victory and should use it to propel them into the latter stages of the competition. It will remain a famous moment for their Olympic side but judging by their attitude that night, they won’t even be thinking of resting on their laurels.

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