Japan 0-1 Costa Rica: Roles reversed as Blue Samurai humbled by late Keysher Fuller winner

Marc Mayo27 November 2022

Costa Rica bounced back from a seven-goal defeat to Spain by beating Japan to secure a famous World Cup win.

Japan were out to build on a huge comeback victory over Germany to kickstart their tournament but left matchwinner Takuma Asano on the bench as Hijame Moriyasu made five changes.

Costa Rica made two changes and switched to a five-man defence after the hammering at the hands of Spain.

Ritsu Doan, who netted the equaliser against Germany, was one of those introduced by Japan and his fine cross into the six-yard box teased an early opener, but with the goal gaping it went unmet.

While the Blue Samurai lacked a cutting edge, it was ambition largely found wanting for La Sele as they remained content to knock the ball around at the back.

A rare move forward after the half-hour mark drew a half-clearance to Joel Campbell, who lofted a hopeful poke at goal over the bar.

The end of one of the dullest halves in Qatar so far prompted Moriyasu to make two half-time changes, switching to a 3-4-3 formation with the introduction of Asano.

A momentary surge faded as Japan looked less like the swashbuckling comeback kings that downed Germany and more the raw, wayward young team that many expected to show up at this World Cup.

As the clock ticked, they became guilty of the lack of end product that did for the Germans and Costa Rica snatched all three points in the final ten minutes.

Keysher Fuller stepped up to produce the winner after scrappy play from Japan surrendered possession by their own box and a snapshot from the edge of the area managed to catch Shuichi Gonda napping and nestle in the top corner.

Costa Rica saw out the win with men behind the ball, their first shot on target in 170 minutes at this tournament earning their first World Cup victory in a 90-minute match since beating Italy in the 2014 group stage.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in