Japan stunned Germany, 2-1, in the World Cup on Wednesday, throwing a group that had seemed predictable into disarray.
The game had begun with a protest by Germany’s entire starting lineup. They took the lead with a penalty in the 33rd minute but Ritsu Doan levelled up before in the 76th minute and Takuma Asano scored the winner to give Japan the historic win.
Asano picked up a long ball in the 84th minute, and all by himself in the German box deked a defender and slotted home a shot from close in to give Japan the win. A shaken German team tried to get something going in the final minutes, plus seven added on, but despite a fair amount of frantic action around Japan’s goal, could not find the net.
Germany are in a group with Costa Rica and Spain, leaving them with a challenge to reach the knockout stages.
