Japan Pulls One Over La Rojita in Group Stage

Spain U23 0 - 1 (34' Otsu) Japan U23 

No one could have been more surprised than me when Japan defeated La Rojita 1-0 at Hampden Park.  While Spain may have produced the first goalscoring opportunity, it would be Japan's Yuki Otsu who would score the only goal of game following some questionable defending by Martin Montoya.

Juan Mata played in Rodrigo at the 4' minute mark with an amazing pass, but Rodrigo's shot went wide.  Mata yet again came close to breaking the deadlock, cutting in from the right, but Japan's Gonda did well to punch the ball away.  La Rojita dominated possession, but what good is possession if you can't follow through with some golazos?

Japan, much to my surprise, and perhaps spectators worldwide, took the lead at the 34' minute mark.  Otsu made the most out of teammate Takahiro Ogihara's corner and Spain's defense (read: lack thereof).  Spain U23 goalkeeper David de Gea was otherwise preoccupied and Montoya's failure to mark the Japanese attacking midfielder proved critical.

Japan continued their attack, nearly doubling its lead minutes later when the ball went straight to Hiroshi Kiyotake inside Spain's penalty area.  Kiyotake did well to dribble past De Gea, but his shot went wide.  A breath of relief.

Spain's relief was short lived.  Jordi Alba earned the first booking of the game at the 40' minute mark, and not two minutes later Spain was reduced to 10 men when Iñigo Martínez was shown a straight red.  Martínez obstructed a clear goalscoring opportunity, knocking Japanese forward Kensuke Nagai to the ground as he broke towards Spain's penalty area.  A goal down, a man down... It just was not La Rojita's day.

"With one player less, we were forced to chase the game," La Rojita coach Luis Milla stated. "That isn't the style of the Spanish team."

And chase the game they did.  Japan did well to test the reflexes of De Gea time and time again after the break.  To the ManU goalkeeper's credit, he did well to deny his opponents of another goal.  And to the rest of his teammates' credit, Japan's tenacity lit a fire within as they began to move the ball forward with urgency in hopes of scoring an equalizer.  In spite of their effort, the team was unable to save face.  Milla's men lacked creativity and movement on pitch was iffy at best.

"We will treat the last two [group] games like Cup finals."

Let's hope Milla and his men deliver in their next meeting when they take on Honduras this Sunday at St. James' Park.

written by Gail Hidalgo