In the first round of the World Cup, Japan defeated Germany and got the lead in qualifying. Costa Rica defeated Spain 0-7 in the first round, and ranked last in the group. This round of Japan's encounter with Costa Rica is regarded as a battle for Japan to lock in the qualification to qualify in advance. Because from the perspective of overall strength and condition, Japan is fully capable of defeating its opponent and getting 3 points.
Compared with the previous match against Germany, Japan's lineup has undergone many changes. Ueda Kie-sei replaced Maeda Daran as a single arrow, Dora Anri and Ama Yuki replaced Kubo Kenyo and Ito Junya , Momota Eima replaced Tanaka Bi , and Yama Neiro replaced Sakai Hiroki , and other positions remain unchanged.
As the saying goes, "Win the ball will not change the lineup", but Japanese coach Mori Boichi made such a large adjustment to the lineup after defeating Germany, which is really surprising. It has to be said that such behavior does not rule out the possibility of underestimating the enemy, and underestimating the enemy comes at a price.
It is true that even if Japan has undergone a large rotation, they can still have the advantage of possession in this game, but it is difficult to guarantee the tacit understanding between the players by making major adjustments to the lineup at once. Therefore, although Japan has achieved nearly 60% of the ball possession rate in this game, its own characteristics are not satisfactory.
Japan's advantage lies in the speed and attack on the wing, but it is difficult to fully play out under the targeted defense of Costa Rica. In the whole game, Japan created a 13-foot shot opportunity, but only 3-foot shots were directed, and all were saved by Navas. Costa Rica scored one goal in one shot in the game, and in the end they defeated Japan with this goal. After the game, Mori Boichi's rotation was indeed questioned, and his words after the game were even more incomprehensible. Moribachi said: "In the next game against Spain, we will not let them play their strength. We will play our own advantages to win."
Why not play to their own advantages to win in this game against Costa Rica? If you send all the main players in this game, such as Sansatsu, who appears on the bench but repeatedly creates threats, will be in the starting lineup, and you will likely be defeated and qualify in advance.
Japan's defeat also created the real "death group" of this World Cup. Currently, Spain, Japan and Costa Rica are all 3 points. If Germany defeats Spain next, there will be a grand occasion where four teams are all 3 points. In other groups, some teams have confirmed to get qualifying places, such as the Netherlands and England, and they will definitely get second in the group in the last round of losing, and France has scored 6 points to advance.
In addition, there is another interesting situation in Group E. Even if Germany loses to Spain in this round, they still have the hope of qualifying in the last round. As long as they beat Japan and get enough goal difference and Spain beat Costa Rica, they will qualify for the second place in the group.
So, Japan did not send all the elites to take Costa Rica in this round, and put its destiny in the last round against Spain. Moribaya played a good hand in his hand.
