In the second round of Group E of the 2022 World Cup group stage, Japan lost 0-1 to Costa Rica again after upsetting Germany. In the first half, neither side managed to create a goalscoring chance. In the second half, Yuki Soma shot a straight free-kick slightly higher, and Fuller scored the winning goal with a shot from the upper corner. At the end of the match, Costa Rica beat Japan 1-0 to usher in the team's first victory of the World Cup.
Japan's upset defeat to Costa Rica has made Group E qualification confusing, and Spain, Japan and Costa Rica currently have 3 points. Germany next up against Spain, win or lose, have a good chance of qualifying. If Germany wins against Spain, the four teams will have 3 points, and if Germany draws or loses, Japan loses to Spain in the third round, and Germany's victory over Costa Rica can still guarantee promotion.
In this match, Costa Rican striker Campbell won 15 confrontations in the whole game, which is statistically the most won by a player in a single game of this World Cup. The goal in the 80th minute gave Costa Rica the lead to Fuller and his best of the game, the only goal of the game and the only shot on target for Costa Rica.
In this match, Morihoichi made a five-man rotation, according to statistics, the team did not score 13 shots in this game, which is the second most World Cup zero goals in the history of the Japanese team.
After the game, Morihoichi was interviewed. He admitted that Costa Rica was strong and that the game did not go as intended. Before the game, the idea is to keep not conceding the ball while constantly creating offensive opportunities to score. Next game against Spain will try not to let the opponent play to the advantage, try to win and make the fans happy.
Japanese fan social media set off a wave of criticism: Moriho is incompetent. Some fans said: This is what I expected. As a result, Yuki Soma was still on the field, and it was not Kubo Kenhide but Takumi Minamino who replaced Kamata Daichi, which was completely Morihoichi's mistake. Welcome back, incompetent Morihoichi.
Another fan said: The main reason for Japan's loss is undoubtedly the change of starters. The importance of this game is self-evident and I think the players themselves should understand it. Being so effective against Germany, but so contemptuous of Costa Rica, is entirely Morihoichi's problem. It is estimated that the group stage will be eliminated.
Many domestic media personalities also made heated comments through personal social media. Media person Lu Yang: Things are getting more and more interesting, this game seems to be a closer result to what everyone expected before the start of the game, the Japanese team's luck is not too bad, but it can reflect how good the luck of the first game is, in the end, the system still owes the German team. Of course, this result made the German team's mentality at night more peaceful, and the draw against Spain became an acceptable result. Reporter Feng Zhen: What, Japan's NHK is preparing to make a documentary again, "Gone with the Wind".