Fatal consequences for the DFB team: huge fuss about Japan’s winning goal against Spain

Fatal consequences for the DFB team
Huge fuss over Japan’s winning goal against Spain

The Japanese national soccer team qualifies for the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar after beating Germany and Spain as group winners. The winning goal in the decisive game against the Iberians (2:1) is flanked by doubts.

Was the ball out before the Japanese winning goal or not? The decisive cross from Kaoru Mitoma to Ao Tanaka was a matter of millimeters. Even after viewing the video images and photos, those involved were still unsure. “On the video scoreboard I felt the ball was out of bounds,” said Spain centre-back Pau Torres. “But the VAR is there for a reason.”

After almost three minutes of checking, the Mexican video assistant Fernando Guerrero informed the South African referee Victor Gomes that the ball was still in the field – the originally disallowed goal still counted. “For me it was half gone, but I couldn’t really see it. If he had passed it and not counted the goal, I would have accepted it and wouldn’t have been disappointed,” said Tanaka.

His coach was also diplomatic. “Nowadays there is great technology on the big football stage,” said Hajime Moriyasu, “and if the ball was really out of bounds it wouldn’t have counted. The referee decided the ball was in and we respected that. But we were willing to accept it either way.”

Meanwhile, Spain national coach Luis Enrique was downright irritated by the photos of the ball circulating wildly on the internet at the moment. “I saw an image that must have been manipulated. It can’t be the real image. It must have been manipulated,” Enrique said just after midnight in the press conference room at Al-Rajjan’s Khalifa International Stadium. He spoke of “ten minutes of panic” in view of two goals conceded right after the break. “Football is an inexplicable sport at times,” he said.

In the end, the result was enough for both teams to progress – which meant that neither team took a risk in the final phase. “We gave everything,” said the Spain coach. According to his own statements, he had not noticed that his team had been eliminated for three minutes in the meantime – with Costa Rica leading 2-1 in the parallel game against Germany. “How? We were outside?” he said when asked at the press conference. “I didn’t know, I was focused on the game.” Otherwise he would have “got a heart attack”.

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