Football Japan Minutecast

A blunder by goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima allowed Wesley Sneijder to clinch a 1-0 victory for Holland on Saturday as another strong defensive performance from Japan went unrewarded.

After a goalless first half, Sneijder latched onto a pass from Robin van Persie - who may have controlled the ball with his hand - to fire a speculative right-footed shot from just outside the Japanese penalty area on 52 minutes. Diving to his right, Kawashima looked to have the powerful effort covered but failed to get both hands to it and watched in horror as the ball deflected off his left glove into the net behind him.

Despite speculation that Japan might adopt a more attacking formation after their tense 1-0 win over Cameroon last Monday, coach Takeshi Okada went with an unchanged line-up that saw Keisuke Honda once again positioned as a lone forward, with Yoshito Okubo and Daisuke Matsui manning the flanks and Yuki Abe providing defensive cover in midfield. Opposite number Bert van Marwijk also remained loyal to the eleven that had beaten Denmark 2-0 at Soccer City, with Rafael van der Vaart retaining his place at left wing in the continued absence of Arjen Robben.

The Japanese system had effectively neutralised the threat of Samuel Eto�fo and Pierre Webo during the opening group fixture, and after a testing start looked to be paying similar dividends against the group favourites too as Abe in particular continued to block the Dutch path through to danger man Sneijder. With eight or nine white shirts behind the ball whenever Holland ventured forwards, Japan grew in confidence as they frustrated their opponents throughout the opening 45 minutes, and even managed to create the half�fs best two chances on the counter. Left-back Yuto Nagatomo fired a low shot wide of Maarten Stekelenburg�fs left-hand post, while Matsui tested the goalkeeper with a dipping volley late on.

Sneijder�fs goal early in the second period meant that Japan had to adopt a more ambitious approach thereafter, but despite taking hold of the game as the uncharacteristically influent Dutch sat back on their lead, Okada�fs men struggled to create genuine opportunities to equalise. Van Persie sliced the ball over his own crossbar with 20 minutes remaining as Shunsuke Nakamura, Shinji Okazaki, and Keiji Tamada were all sent on to provide greater numbers going forward.

The match truly opened up in a frantic final five minutes as Eljero Elia - who managed two assists on his international debut against Japan last year - fed fellow substitute Ibrahim Afellay only to be denied by Kawashima, who then continued his redemption with another save from the PSV Eindhoven winger moments later. The stops might have been crucial as Marcus Tulio Tanaka put Okazaki through on goal in stoppage time, but the Shimizu S-Pulse forward fired over from eight yards to end Japan�fs hopes of stealing a point.

Speaking on Japanese television moments after the final whistle as the relieved Dutch players celebrated on the pitch, a visibly drained Takeshi Okada said he was �gfrustrated�h with the result. �gIt�fs a shame because we tried hard to get an equaliser. The players worked well as a team both in defence and in attack. We don�ft know what will happen in the group�fs other matches but we will of course do our best to beat Denmark.�h

Captain Makoto Hasebe stressed the need to take the positives from what was an impressive performance overall despite Japan�fs lack of potency in front of goal. �gEvery player gave 100%. Our defence was well organised and we managed to get forward more effectively too, so we now have to carry this into our third game as well.�h

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Denmark recovered from an early Samuel Eto�fo opener in the other Group E game to beat Cameroon 2-1 thanks to goals from Nicklas Bendtner and Dennis Rommedahl. The result means that Cameroon are the first nation to be eliminated from this year�fs World Cup, while Japan will only need a draw to ensure their place in the last 16 when they face the Danes in Rustenburg this Thursday.


World Cup results
Group C
Slovenia 2-2 United States
England 0-0 Algeria

Group D
Germany 0-1 Serbia
Ghana 1-1 Australia

Group E
Holland 1-0 Japan
Cameroon 1-2 Denmark