Costa Rica bounced back from the humiliating defeat to Spain by defeating Japan 1-0 in their FIFA World Cup Group E encounter on Sunday afternoon.
2022 FIFA World Cup
Result: Japan 0-1 Costa Rica
Date: 27 November 2022
Venue: Ahmad bin Ali Stadium
The Samurai Blue head coach Hajime Moriyasu rewarded most players who changed the game off the bench in a win over Germany with starts, in a reshuffled side, including goalscorer Ritsu Doan but Takumi Minamino remained on the bench.
Costa Rica, meanwhile, named the core of the side that were hammered by Spain, with Kendall Waston and Gerson Torres the only changes.
Moriyasu's charges were more on the ball in the opening exchanges and they had a chance to take the lead on ten minutes after Doan went through on goal and whipped a dangerous cross that evaded goalkeeper Keylor Navas but was too quick to be turned home by a Blue shirt.
However, Japan could not increase the tempo of their attacks as the game progressed and Los Tricos gained confidence, as they looked to spring a surprise on counter-attacks.
The same theme continued in the latter phase of the first stanza, with the Samurai Blue dominant on the ball but lacked the finesse to open up the Costa Rica defence, who were happy to head to the interval with the score deadlocked.
Moriyasu needed an immediate response with a double change at half-time, as Takuma Asano replaced Ayase Ueda up top and the introduction of midfielder Hiroki Ito provoked a change of shape after coming on for veteran defender Yuto Nagamoto.
Japan had the bite they were looking for just from the break, as Hidemasa Morita created enough space on the edge of the box and unleashed a looping shot that drew an acrobatic save from Navas towards the top corner.
The Samurai Blue pinned back Costa Rica in their own half and had a chance to break the deadlock just after the hour-mark from a free-kick on the edge of the box but Yuki Soma's curled effort dipped just over the crossbar.
Junya Ito made an immediate impact for Japan off the bench on 67 minutes after surging through on goal on the edge of the box but he was pulled back by Francisco Calvo, who was fortunate to only get a yellow card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity.
Japan pushed numbers forward and were caught on a counter-attack in the last nine minutes after Keysher Fuller Spence broke the deadlock for Los Tricos with their first shot on target with a curled shot that shot-stopper Shuichi Gonda could only tip into the top corner.
Moriyasu's troops came very close to the equaliser after Daichi Kamada got to the end of a scramble in the box but his close-range effort was saved off the line by the out-stretched leg of Navas, as Los Tricos held on for their first points in Group E and their first ever win over Japan.
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