Spain was stunned by Japan at Khalifa International Stadium on Thursday by 2-1 and as a result, Luis Enrique’s team finished second in their group. This result knocked out Germany, who was also shocked by Japan earlier in the tournament.
Spain was given the lead when Morata scored in the 11th minute of the game. However, Japan came back strongly in the second half as they scored two goals in a span of three minutes. Ritsu Doan scored in the 48th minute while Ao Tanaka scored the controversial goal.
Kaoru Mitoma’s assist seemed to have gone past the line but VAR awarded the goal to Japan.
Spain had 83% of possession but Japan went on stun the 2010 champions. In fact, Japan also topped E after their second win in the tournament.
“In football, you deserve it or not and we didn’t deserve it,” Enrique told a news conference afterwards.
“I’m not happy at all. I would have liked to be on top and win but in five minutes Japan scored two. We were dismantled.
“We didn’t have any danger in the first half and then at half-time I told them to be cautious because they had nothing to lose. We collapsed and they could have scored two more goals. I’m not happy at all.
“I never celebrate defeats so we have nothing to celebrate. We have qualified but I have nothing to celebrate.”
In fact, Costa Rica was leading Germany by 2-1 after the 70th minute and if that scoreline had remained intact, Spain would have been knocked out.
“We were knocked out for three minutes?” replied Enrique when he was told how close Spain had come to being eliminated.
“I was not paying attention to the other match, when did that happen? I didn’t know this. I’m not happy because we were defeated by Japan. If I had found out [Spain were going out] I would have had a heart attack.”
On the other hand, Ao Tanaka feels the ball was half out and believes the right decision was made in the end by VAR.
“From my angle, the ball was clearly half out,” he said.
“More than that I could not say because of the speed. I was concerned about scoring but there was always a possibility that it was going to be out.
“If it was not out and it was not a goal I would not have been disappointed but in the end it was a goal so that was great.”
Spain will face Morocco in the Round of 16 on Tuesday.
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