The victor of the Belgium-England match would take Group G and while there were strong arguments as to why perhaps winning for either side wasn’t important due to future draws, Belgium got the job done as it won 1-0.Adrian Januzaj scored the game’s lone goal on a blast in the 51st minute. “There won’t be any big surprises”.
Advertisement
Where is the FIFA World Cup 2018 Belgium v/s Japan match?
Japan have carefully managed their players’ physical condition through the World Cup group stage and will come into their round-of-16 clash against Belgium with plenty left in the tank, coach Akira Nishino said Sunday.
Japan, while needing to halt a team on a 22-match unbeaten run, also have the incentive of targeting a World Cup quarter-final place for the first time. ‘(Fans) were short-changed 10 minutes and they probably got a bit less mileage than usual out of the first 80, ‘ he said.
For a moment, it looked to be the greatest game in Japanese soccer history. Maybe they’re confident this golden generation of players can finally come through.
The Manchester United star is set to face Japan after missing the win over England with an ankle knock.
Japan are long shots to progress to the quarter finals but if they, as expected, name the same line up as they did against both Colombia and Senegal they are in with a chance. Only introduced as a second-half substitute in the loss to Poland, his directness was badly missed early in the match in Volgograd.
Belgium continued to push forward and both Chadli and Lukaku forced Japan keeper Eiji Kawashima into spectacular saves with powerful headers four minutes from the end. My image of Belgium is their three full-backs and two defensive midfielders, and two very attacking wingers.
ROSTOV-For the second World Cup in succession, Belgium has swept through the group stage with three wins and stylish football. Japan will like to be in the game for as long as possible to give themselves the best chance to get past Belgium taking inspiration from Russian Federation. The Belgians cruised to qualification, dropping just two points, scoring 43 goals and conceding six in ten matches. Add to that impressive mix the likes of Axel Witsel and playmaker Dries Mertens and Martinez’s side are one of the best in the tournament.
Marouane Fellaini equalized for Belgium just five minutes later, rising above the Japanse defense to head in a fine ball from Eden Hazard.
Advertisement
Get breaking news alerts.
