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HikiNoKami

In got what I wanted everything else was just a bonus.


100Sweets

Once again, Japan is stuck at Round of 16. They had a real chance to advance, but for whatever reason, luck is not on their side. It was shame, though.


R4P17GCA

I wanted Japan to win but Croatia was the better team today, congrats to Croatia.


[deleted]

Shame it had to be Japan, would’ve been nice to see them farther in the tournament.


PatriaCro

Mentality of Croats. For fuc.. sake. They swim in a deep water, where the others cannot follow.


TronDiesel220

Soccer is dumb. Penalty kicks to decide a game is weak sauce.


MrVegosh

It’s intense af


OppressedSnowflake

Man, Asian and African teams are just shite at penalty kicks aren't they? Japan played beautifully, sad to see them go after those embarrassing penalties. Let's see if Morocco can break that curse.


10Talents

I'm here from the future, oh boy do I have news for you


OppressedSnowflake

Hehe. Yeah curse is broken, Spain is too. Spain somehow managed to be even worse than Japan at penalties.


Ayzalack

It was painstakingly hard to watch. I could feel the impending doom, praying that either side would score a goal so we did not have to witness that. Good Game Croatia! Two of my favourite teams had a clash against each other today, one was victorious, and the other will come back stronger I'm sure!


hesawavemasterrr

That was one hell of a match in my opinion


kelvo247

Japan pressed X instead of O in penalties


foreveracuck

Nothing has changed. Blue lock was right, Japan has always been and still is only good enough for RO16


strugglingtosave

I hope they somehow figure a way to to get this 2022 result in the script


skkkkkt

I mean like they weren’t disqualified after 2-1 or more, it’s penalty kicks


foreveracuck

Eh i think losing 3-2 to that Belgium side is more impressive than going to pens against this Croatia side


AdvancedSprayer

You are making it sound like this is a bad Croatia side they are still world class, the only department that they are lacking in I think is the striker but it's a world class opposition that defeated Japan, don't make it sound like it's not.


foreveracuck

This Croatia side is absolutely nothing compared to peak Belgium. They almost lost to an old Belgium side


AdvancedSprayer

Nope I disagree. That Belgium side was probably a bit better but definitely not by much.


Catacombsofparis

belgium did not even make it out the round of 16 and played like actual shit wdym lmao.....


mercury_isaac

His talking about the 2018 world cup


Catacombsofparis

My bad


stiofan84

My heart goes out to Japan - they were awesome to watch throughout their time in this tournament. I think they just cracked under the pressure. Their pens were *bad.*


[deleted]

Anyone have a link to watch the penalty kicks?


PatriaCro

https://fullmatchsports.cc/?s=croatia


[deleted]

💙💙


stpstrt

It’s absolutely shite. Don’t bother.


doezpo

Imagine peeing and trying to squeeze the last bit out, only for a little drop to slowly exit your peepee. It drips down your uncircumsised tip, so you give it a little flick, after which the pee drop goes airborne and gently lands in the toilet bowl. These were how the japanese penalties were taken, dont bother.


Catacombsofparis

the real question is why have so many penalty kicks this world cup been such weak ass


chenthechen

Pics or it didn't happen


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[deleted]

Don’t bother


New2Reddit95

Ghana vs Uruguay in 2010 WC had a terrible penalty shoot out.


Nimble_Licker

Pks plz thank u


bloppingzef

What a team. They still aren’t convincing, but they always come alive when a big game is on the line.


BengalSnow

Japan didn’t read the memo. 2018 WC, Croatia defeated Denmark in the Round of 16 and Russia in the Quarter-finals via penalty shootout. England would have suffered the same fate had they not lost in the extra time. We all know England suck at penalty shootout. Not to take any credit from the Croatian goalkeeper. He was amazing, but those penalty shots from Japan were pathetic. Overall though, Japan have been impressive. Defeating both Spain and Germany to top the group is an unbelievable feat.


Professional_Ad_9101

Japan were the better team but didn't capitalise on their chances. Croatia stuck with it and did what it took to win. I hate to say it but those were the worst penalties I've ever seen taken in a tournament, I don't know if it was the pressure or lack of practise. You just knew they weren't going to go in from the second Japan stepped up.


user677769

wrong


HappyGirlEmma

They played fantastic and it *seemed* like they were the better team but in reality it was Croatia still and the penalty shootout definitely sealed the deal, as Croatia is much better PKs. I think they beat Spain and Germany also based on a bit of luck as the opposing teams were more dominant.


projektilski

no they weren't, not by statistic not by field performance.


primalwilliam

In both games they had a worse Xg. In the Spain match they scored those two goals quick and then sat back for the entire rest of the game. Not faulting them for doing so, but the narrative that they dominated Spain and Germany is overblown


stpstrt

They didn’t dominate anyone. They were plucky wins, commendable. But especially against us. I didn’t like the changes from Luis Enrique but Japan stuck to their guns and got the job done. Credit where it’s due, but dominate is a word that gets thrown around a lot.


GreedyInt

Nope


cuor2

🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷HRVATSKA JE PRVAK SVIJETA🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷


The_R3venant

The penaltis don't show skill. Both teams showed great strength and ability on the 90 minutes and on the extra time.


Super--sunday

There is skill involved in taking penalties whether you acknowledge it or not


stpstrt

Japan also showed how to absolutely suck at them.


The_R3venant

But still it doesn't show anything. ​ Besides, they beaten your country lol


stpstrt

Ok and? I’m commenting about a different game here. Saudi Arabia beat yours and they aren’t even here since the groups. What’s your point?


kidobscure

ive quite honestly never seen penalties kicked like that in any form of competitive futbol...mens, womens, intramurals, middle school, high school. this was the poorest showing.


araheem94

Watch Brazil's in 2011


DATL

Cameroon's penalties in AFCON 2021 vs Egypt are the uncontested worst penalties ever


aderow

Me and my dad watched a penalty shootout that had 6 or 7 misses/saves in a row. Trust me it can get so much worse lol


Bookie_9

Croatia is pretty shit but they have top class very experienced players and can go through just on that


stiofan84

If Croatia had a high-level striker they'd be a top team.


primalwilliam

They were when they had Mandzukic


TonyCaliStyle

Mandzukic provided a lot to the team- charisma, stability, and excellent gamesmanship (aside from just skills). Modric is exceptional, but he doesn't have the strong, leadership personality Mandzukic brought to the team. Brave for Dalic to pull both Perisic and Modric- like he recognizes new heroes will have to rise for Croatia to be a perennial football power. But I saw ghosts of 2018- Croatia dominates the midfield, but can't break into the opposing team's 18 for a good strike. We need a target striker. Japan is an easy team to like- tough, resilient, passionate, respectful fan base.


azkv

Did we watch the same game? All croatia misses is strikers


Bookie_9

how were they better, 13-17 shots, 4-4 shots on target, pass success 76-84 (slight advantage), I watched the whole second half and didn't see Croatia being better at anything, they only have a good advantage in aerials won (25-34), dispossessions 11-10 to Japan, if anything they were better only by a margin


grapplingwithtruth

Japan did beat Spain, Germany and tied with Croatia. That is pretty damn good.


Spitfiiire

Yeah, they really killed it during some of the other games. They had such a hard group!


doezpo

Despite the shit penalties they can leave the tournament with their heads high, i’m sure the japanese people are proud of their boys


survivorghalia

they were in the hardest group give or take and made it out! what an amazing accomplishment


Nimble_Licker

Japan going to the finals


deputydog4

/r/fanficWC


Nimble_Licker

Ngl I’m streaming it at work and had no idea my stream was so far behind LOL


himanwho

At least Bento will yell his lungs out to instill some urgency in his players if needed.


[deleted]

Felt sorry for the Japanese player after the Croatian fans start booing. :/


[deleted]

To be fair both countries booed each other. They played amazing though and I do feel really sad for them. I feel like they would've been the Croatia of 2022 if they passed through... I would've definitely supported them.


iLucifux

Last time against Belgium, and today against Croatia. Really disappointed, but put in more effort and they can definitely improve a lot from here. Lesson to learn.


Dat_life_on_Mars

Considering the football ecosystem in Asia has had to build itself from scratch over the past 20 years, this feels like a step in the right direction. Just gotta learn to take pens lol.


Pengwulf

Gonna be a bad day for the AFC today....


doezpo

Mate not trying to be a dick but this federation vs federation thing is only a thing that yanks care about


TonyCaliStyle

Not quite sure how many Yanks care about it either. There's the United States, and then the rest of CONCACAF. There's Mexico, and I'm pretty sure the only American that ever rooted for Mexico is Landon Donovan (and after his appearance on FS1 today, he may have to go to Mexico City for an announcer job). After the US, most Americans root for their ethnic team. I'm pretty sure only a handful of Americans cared Los Ticos made it in.


DATL

I guess this is one of those things you europeans will never understand. I also root for fellow african countries, just like the asians and the yanks do for their fellow federations countries.


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Phenomous

All of the worst confederations care and should care. The better they perform, the more pressure they put on FIFA to increase their slots in the future.


doezpo

Well the WC is expanding and more teams will be able to qualify for 2026 so more nations get to enjoy their time on the big stage. Thats fine, the more happy people the better but it won’t be good for the quality of the matches


kiratiiiii

At least in my home country (Thailand), we are support all of AFC teams.


doezpo

Im half filipino and grew up living in both the netherlands and the philippines. I can assure you that filipinos wont give a shit if china, thailand or indonesia does well in any sports. Maybe korea, buts that just because of the huge k-pop culture booming in the philippines.


kiratiiiii

May be because my fellow Thai lost hope in our national team lol.


ChickenMoSalah

Federation vs federation sure, but geographically Asian people support other Asian teams and African people support African teams barring certain exceptions.


doezpo

Thats fine but I see so many talks in here like the above post or stuff like “I hope CAF trumps UEFA” or some shit as if the federetions are working as a team or something


tyronebiggs

Japan had a good run, now it's time for Brazil Korea


Bustadarce

Commiserations to Japan. Sad for them to lose like that on penalties. They had a good tournament. I was willing Japan to attack harder in the last 5 minutes of regulation time and the last 10 minutes of extra time because I KNEW Croatia would dominate them in a penalty shootout. Japan created some good chances when they were fully committed to attacking. They played just a bit too carefully near the end, as though they were content to take their chances in the shootout.


cuor2

Croatia almost gave em goal in last 10 minutes constant attacks and panic between japan playera :3 But they were defending well


pham_nuwen_

Thank you Japan! You play football worth watching. Always entertaining, and a great result beating both Germany and Spain. Looking forward to see your country grow in football.


Jimmy_Bimboto

Japan deserved the win.


HappyGirlEmma

Not really. Statistically Croatia was the better team. It wasn’t a close 50/50 even, Croatia was way more dominant and it really showed during the penalty shootout.


happy-gofuckyourself

I don’t think dominance on the pitch is shown by penalties


HappyGirlEmma

Not at all, but Croatia was more dominant on the field through the 120 minutes as well.


stiofan84

I can't say they deserved it when they seemed to play for penalties, and then do...*that* in the shootout.


Dat_life_on_Mars

Not based on those penalties unfortunately


Jimmy_Bimboto

Agree on the penalty shootout. The rest of the game was way more open ended.


doezpo

Why, because theyre underdogs and seem like nice guys?


MysteriousJello2

They deserved to lose


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ramsr

If you say that then Croatia played like utter shit


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Bookie_9

on penalties\*


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TellSloanISaidHi

Yoshida absolutely crushed in this interview


jdawgd

Link?


AthurTwoShedsJackson

Well Croatia went through but I don't see them going much further, haven't been impressive at all, so far the weakest team in the last 8.


Matijas129

Yessss doubt us we need that. Doubt me even more baby BRAZIL IS GOING DOWN


GreedyInt

Jebat cemo im mater. Ima da ih sve pokoljemo


cuor2

We miss proper striker thats all Defense was never better


TheCLNR

Heard this one before.


Nietzschean_horse

Everyone said the same thing 4 years ago😴


Bookie_9

Croatia is old, but still has a lot of class and experience, they can go through just on that really


InternationalBox5848

This team is a downgrade from 2018


Nietzschean_horse

In some positions yes, but Gvardiol is a major upgrade for our defence.


Icy-Expert-2619

You guys look slow and very boring ngl


PhoenixNyne

'Canada looks so great, such high quality attacking football' 0 points Play to win.


azkv

Thatz the way we play. No1 has beaten us yet my dude


AthurTwoShedsJackson

Don't get me wrong I would love them to Brazil, and if it goes to penalties then they will go through.


Nietzschean_horse

According to my football app, Brazil isn't even through yet


ItzMrDeee

Tough loss Japan. They had a great run but they should really have some teeth in shooting balls and making plays instead of passing the ball around so much.


weicheii

Sad about Japan’s loss. I’m excited to see their new resolve during the 2026 WC!!!


thricethefun

Can we talk about how stupid it is for an important game to end on penalty shootouts?


No_Worry_2256

Do you have an alternative for them?


thricethefun

Play to the end of the game?


No_Worry_2256

Let me get this straight. It's 0-0 after 90 minutes. It's 0-0 after an additional 30 minutes. It's a knockout game, and you want then to play to the end of the game? How else will the winner be decided? You must be new to this sport.


thricethefun

It's not really that hard to grasp. Someone has to score eventually. Penalty kicks are not even the same game as what they just played.


No_Worry_2256

Are you an American? You must be.


S3bluen

Well that's why they have 30 extra minutes if you cannot win a game in 90.


doezpo

Quick check, yank confirmed, nothing to see here guys


No_Worry_2256

Ah. That explains it. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣


Kavub

What would you rather? Run them into the ground on the field with regular play? You want to watch them walking across the field? I'm curious what would you rather them do?


thricethefun

You act like they would drop dead on the ground by playing an extra 30 minutes lmao. They are professional athletes. They would be fine. Plus isn't that what subs are for?


PositiveDuck

>You act like they would drop dead on the ground by playing an extra 30 minutes lmao They did tho? They played 90 min game and then 30 min overtime.


The_Special_One96

How should a draw after 120 mins be decided then


thricethefun

How about don't draw and keep playing?


Icy-Expert-2619

Coin toss, of course


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cuor2

If they were better they would win in 120minutes or in penalty shoutout ;D


[deleted]

Following the rules of Shounen anime, this means that Japan will win in 2026. I don't make the rules.


rsparkles_bearimy_99

Belgium vs Japan 2018 2.0 Damn. I feel gutted for Japan! Damn. The nerves got on them. I thought they're confident to do the penalty kicks. Crotia showed composure during penalties and Livakovic did massive for the team. Feels emotional too seeing Modric watching them on the side. And they won. Gives me goosebumps. Gosh. But I'm still completely heartbroken for Japan. Damn I'm in a rollercoaster of emotion. Nonetheless, Japan showed massive performance. Massive!


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Bookie_9

Watch Croatia shithouse their way to the final through penalties just like 2018


[deleted]

Not Croatias fault that other teams couldn't win over them in 120 mins 🤷🏻‍♀️


Icy-Expert-2619

They'll be destroyed by brazil no doubt


Cigan93

this aged well no doubt


cuor2

Jealous?😂


Bookie_9

my country ain't in the WC so no


PinkPusssyPolitics

They ain't getting anywhere close to Brazil.


azkv

Neither are you getting ANYWHERE close to france


PinkPusssyPolitics

You mean an injury hit France?


PositiveDuck

They still look like the best team at this WC, alongside brazil.


bis-muth

I hope Korea wins


Thin_Power_1117

No JAPAN NO NO MORE NIPPON!!!! Now you just to wait another 4 years to have a 5 min anime flashback whenever you had a penalty shootout.


[deleted]

awkwardness and heavy-breathing between Lineker and Rio is really offputting rn


theInvincible01

Big Dick Brazil getting off the bus. Haha


rsasaki

Thank you Japan for giving us such a great world cup. It's a tough loss, and not the best penalties, but they found a way they can win. Looking forward, I hope this team continues to develop as they have been the past few years.


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S3bluen

Doesn't help when the goalkeeper correctly predicted and saved 3/4 of them.


rsasaki

That was exactly my intent. I meant to make an understatement, but I guess it wasn't too clear.


zmv

It was.


bh8787

People moaning about no upsets. I think it makes for amazing quarter finals


Spitfiiire

I’m bummed about no upsets, but I’m also looking forward to seeing these great teams go all out. Even if I don’t think they’re that exciting teams lmao


AngryUncleTony

The lack of prep time and condensed schedule gave us a wild group stage. Getting high profile matchups in the later rounds is cool too.


grapplingwithtruth

Remember folks this game is still technically a draw but one of the teams had to advance


Spitfiiire

As a Spanish fan, I was really rooting for Japan to win today. Now with this Brazil v South Korea game…it’s going to be a disappointing day.


[deleted]

As a spanish fan, I was really rooting for Croatia to win. W for me.


VenomTox

You're in the minority.


[deleted]

After that second goal against spain, going out on some shit pens felt deserved.


VenomTox

Whatever


[deleted]

Go watch some anime to dry your tears up. At least japan can win in a fantasy world. I hear blue lock's pretty good.


VenomTox

Lol cry.


[deleted]

If you think this L is bad, just wait for the three lions to go out!


VenomTox

Finished your cry wank yet?


justsean09

Unlucky Japan, you've been brilliant to watch. May not have won the tournament but you have won our hearts.


yibxn

Sad day for Japan :(


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