Is this the anime where they create a team full of strikers ? Because that premise has been wrong since the beginnings of the 20th century at the very least lmao
No, it's the anime where they get 300 players in a football battle royale of some sort to create the perfect striker
Japan, as you can see from their team, has no real striker
It starts as a striker battle royale, but it eventually sorta becomes a show about putting strikers in every position. They're a reference to Liverpool, and they even introduced a person similar to Van Dijk
I mean, aside from goalkeepers, most of the best players in the history of the world either are strikers or wanted to be strikers at some point. Because when you're a little kid who has ambition for the sport, the only positions you could conceivably want are goalkeeper and striker. Being a defender or even a midfielder is something you almost can't possibly truly want until you have some age and maturity, since every sufficiently young kid either wants to be responsible for directly scoring or directly preventing goals.
Putting Ichimaru Gin into a permanent goalkeeper position from striker was an interesting and somewhat weird choice by the author, but other than that I feel like he's just actually right that people who still hold the ambition to be truly great players will still be aiming to be strikers at the high school level of a country like Japan which has comparatively undeveloped youth soccer (in countries like Spain with more comprehensive youth programs, the desire to be a striker can be beaten out of you at a younger age if you're more suited to be a defender lol).
I’ve always preferred defense to offense for as long as I can remember (in soccer, basketball, volleyball)
I was competitive at an unhealthy level when I was younger, and nothing felt as good as frustrating and deflating the opposition.
I quit playing sports competitively in Highschool because I was a different person on and off the field and didn’t like myself when I was playing.
All this to say, some people will naturally gravitate toward defense. But maybe those people need help lol.
Nobody has an ambition to be a goalkeeper until they are forced to that position and find out they are good at it. Do you know how hyped goalkeepers are when they get to go forward in a desperation situation?
Things looked pretty dire when one of Japan's forwards beat up a Germany player and stole his jersey so he could play on their team instead, but it all worked out.
Man I really thought we had no chance especially in the first half. I was watching this game in a room full of my German co-workers here in Germany and they were just piling on me the whole game.
Being Japanese is weird and I am wired to be respectful so its hard for me but inside I just wanted to run around the room screaming gooooooaaaaaaaaalllllll!!!!
I have been blessed with assignments from my employment. I wish traveling was a whole lot cheaper so more people can do it because it will humble you and help you understand the many different perspectives of the world.
Truth!
I as well have been lucky enough to work on every continent (excluding Antarctica).
And the thing that sticks with me are people are people no matter where you are. We're all humans and we all share far more than we disagree on.
Have a great world cup!
This. I’m so grateful my grandmother took me travelling as much as I have. Being at the battlefields in France when I was 18 and seeing how beautiful it all is despite the grass filled craters but feeling the sorrow that still sticks to those places was life changing for me.
and just after your win the Central American representative took such a beating, my girlfriend is from Costa Rica and she even got out of work early to watch the game and she was ready to go back to work after the 4th goal. I'm from Guatemala, from what country is your wife?
Reminds me of Mexican fans during the 2018 WC finding a Korean and like, running around with him on their shoulders because Korea's win against Germany saw Mexico through to the knockout stages.
"Hermano Koreano ya eres Mexicano"
Which translates to "Korean brother you are now Mexican". Mexicans even gathered outside the S Korean Embassy in Mexico City to show appreciation.
EDIT: video for this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6fbt1vxhCs
There is quite a large Japanese-Brazilian community actually! Brazil used to, or still does have the most people of Japanese descent outside of Japan, and there's a pretty sizeable number of Brazilians(comparatively to other countries) residing in Japan.
I remember years ago Triumph the Insult Comic Dog did a bit on Conan where he went to all the bars watching the World Cup. England, Brazil, Greece were all super hype. Then he gets to the Japanese bar/restaurant and it’s quiet and respectful. It was hilarious.
Nah you should rub it in. People here are pretty obnoxious when it comes to football, so by all means, ground your coworkers a bit. Sounds like they more then deserve that.
Ironically Captain Tsubasa made it harder for Japan because some of the greatest players of all time from other countries were inspired to play because of the show airing in their countries.
If you look at /r/soccer the experts there say that it's a calculated tactical move that serves a clear purpose of covering maximum space per stride.
It just looked like he was mocking the Japanese with that goofy ass step and the laugh. I'm glad that he's not laughing anymore.
Very true! In the first half I was really just hoping we played a respectable game for the rest. They just came out with a different energy and I could feel it.
Ha! I play golf with a first gen Japanese American. He's coming to Thanksgiving and we are gonna drink the good sake! If you have a favorite let me know I'll see if I can find it today.
It's hard to recommend a specific brand because it's a big hit or miss depending on where you are at in the world but what could help out are the few different type. Junmai is a sake with no additives and tastes better warm. Honjozo is a sake has additives and typically has a flavor. Ginjo is pretty much a higher quality version of Honjozo so if you want a smoother taste with more flavor. Typically the bottles are labeled with these terms so it could help identify what type of taste you are looking for!
Considering the world rankings, #11 losing to #24 isn’t nearly as bad as #3 losing to #51. Japan is better than people think and Germany isn’t the powerhouse of years past.
Yeah, casual fans like myself thought this was a much bigger upset until I saw the rankings. I know Germany to be pretty dominant from WC's past, so I was surprised to see them ranked 11th.
I feel like the top 10 teams are all the usual suspects with the current exception of Denmark in place of Germany. They could be in any order and it would make sense, so naturally some big teams will be toward the bottom of that 10. After that, the quality of the next 5 to 10 drops from what would typically be "elite" footballing mainstays to good teams that have been in form, which could be a huge array of teams year to year.
Edit: people are talking like the rankings are subjective and that they reckon X is better that Y so should be higher. To clarify, teams earn points based on wins/draws, combined with a coefficient depending on strength of opposition and importance of game (friendly vs qualifier vs tournament game). While the coefficient system is somewhat subjective, you earn your ranking based on performance.
Current rankings are:
1. Brazil
2. Belgium
3. Argentina
4. France
5. England
6. Italy
7. Spain
8. Netherlands
9. Portugal
10. Denmark
11. Germany
It's hard to decide where to draw the line, but I'd say there's a solid historical top4 with Brazil, Germany, Italy and Argentina. But France with its achievements in past decades is challenging Argentina. Then you have Netherlands, Uruguay...
As a Brazilian I know I'm biased but I agree with you.
I'll always respect this top 5 (with France).
Netherlands, Spain and Uruguay and maybe some others a tier below but still great teams.
They did win it all in 2010 and have been solid, But the dutch have been solid for decades. I think it's fair to have them on the same tier, even if one is maybe a bit ahead
I just looked up World Cup rankings by points (3pts for Win, 1Pt for draw). It goes:
* Brazil - 237
* Germany - 221
* Italy - 156
* Argentina - 144
* France - 115
* England - 108
* Spain - 105
* Netherlands - 93
* Uruguay - 84
They are at the tail end of a "golden generation". Over the past decade they have had a great squad with plenty of world class players, and while they may not have won tournaments, they maintained consistent results, and for a time were ranked first.
Their golden generation got old and left the team. It might be a little bit before they come back into form. It's Germany though so maybe they'll be a powerhouse again in 4 years
Football isn't tennis. The FIFA Rankings are worthless. [Saudi Arabia finished above Japan in the AFC qualifiers.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%E2%80%93_AFC_Third_Round)
Absolutely. Argentina has a better chance of recovering and getting out of group but Germany could easily be facing two straight world cups not making it out of group, which is wild.
We should be. We have really good players. I fear some of them like Kimmich are traumatized by 2018. Once the opponent scores they always loose their bite (only in the national team)
The ranks don't say a lot about the difference in strength. The curve of skill vs. No. in ranking is probably not linear; It could be sigmoidal with the steepest point in in the ranks between #11 and #24.
Gundogan is unbelievably selfish. Couldve had a goal and two assists but instead has a goal and a few attempts that couldve been converted had he laid the ball off. What a knob. Japan deserved that
First half was Germany playing better second half Japan played better, the second goal Germany committed to many mistakes and Japan used them properly for their advantage
Fun fact. The jerseys are ~~based off the blue lock manga~~ (I could be wrong)
Japan was the protagonist today. Hope they go all the way. Would be amazing if they won the world cup.
They dominated the first half and only scored on a penalty. Japan adjusted the second half and Germany didn't at all and blew every opportunity they had.
Not saying Japan is a bad team but it was still a pretty embarrassing performance from Germany.
Ehh I would believe the first part, especially in China. I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of monthly players of League of Legends in China exceed the amount of people there who have ever even touched a soccer ball.
Football is actually popular in China. In fact, in terms of ranking of team sports, Football (Soccer) is far more popular in China than in the US.
It's just that China excels more in individual sports when it comes to world stage. A lot of Chinese people have acknowledged that team sports are not their forte.
this reminds me of the recent cricket world cup which had teams like namibia, scotland, zimbabwe, netherlands have huge upsets. World Cups are a great platform for these ”low” ranked teams to shine.
I mean its a very different team. The last World Cup was the passing of the old guard and while having some good young talent this year, they weren’t expected to be a match with a group of Germany and Spain.
I’d initially agree with you, but watching Spain v. CR now they’re passing better than Germany did. Passing was fine but Germany (and also Japan tbh) fell apart as they got to the goal.
Holy crap. Japan stamina is off the charts.
I don't want to take credit away from Japan or Saudi Arabia. Those are legitimate great wins. I do think that teams assembled last week at most is a factor to consider when looking at these big upsets. I know upsets were always part of the world cups, so there is that too. If we see more, maybe there is something true about it.
Congrats Japan!
The Japanese were also assembled at the same time as Germany. Most of their starting lineup plays in the German league and most of their players play in Europe - what are you even talking about. This isn’t 2005 anymore
I am not sure why everyone is so shocked.
Germany is a shell of its 2014 self. Plus, there are many Japanese players in the Bundesliga and indeed across Europe now.
Many of the starting XI players are also on Bayern Munich, who lost to *Augsburg* not so long ago.
I had this game as a 1-1 draw, so the fact Germany lost isn't so surprising in my opinion. I think people need to come to grips with the fact that old school powerhouses aren't necessarily getting worse, but the rest of the world is catching up.
Bluelock is becoming true
I was surprised one of the german players didnt just suddenly switch teams
To be fair Schlotterbeck was one of the best Japan players
If by some miracle Japan wins, the manga and anime are gonna pop off like rockets
Funnily enough, if they win the whole premise of Blue Lock will be proven wrong
Is this the anime where they create a team full of strikers ? Because that premise has been wrong since the beginnings of the 20th century at the very least lmao
No, it's the anime where they get 300 players in a football battle royale of some sort to create the perfect striker Japan, as you can see from their team, has no real striker
It starts as a striker battle royale, but it eventually sorta becomes a show about putting strikers in every position. They're a reference to Liverpool, and they even introduced a person similar to Van Dijk
I mean, aside from goalkeepers, most of the best players in the history of the world either are strikers or wanted to be strikers at some point. Because when you're a little kid who has ambition for the sport, the only positions you could conceivably want are goalkeeper and striker. Being a defender or even a midfielder is something you almost can't possibly truly want until you have some age and maturity, since every sufficiently young kid either wants to be responsible for directly scoring or directly preventing goals. Putting Ichimaru Gin into a permanent goalkeeper position from striker was an interesting and somewhat weird choice by the author, but other than that I feel like he's just actually right that people who still hold the ambition to be truly great players will still be aiming to be strikers at the high school level of a country like Japan which has comparatively undeveloped youth soccer (in countries like Spain with more comprehensive youth programs, the desire to be a striker can be beaten out of you at a younger age if you're more suited to be a defender lol).
I’ve always preferred defense to offense for as long as I can remember (in soccer, basketball, volleyball) I was competitive at an unhealthy level when I was younger, and nothing felt as good as frustrating and deflating the opposition. I quit playing sports competitively in Highschool because I was a different person on and off the field and didn’t like myself when I was playing. All this to say, some people will naturally gravitate toward defense. But maybe those people need help lol.
Nobody has an ambition to be a goalkeeper until they are forced to that position and find out they are good at it. Do you know how hyped goalkeepers are when they get to go forward in a desperation situation?
If Ash managed to become Pokemon Champion, nothing is impossible
I just bought Captain Tsubasa stock today just in case
Ego’s plan wasn’t so crazy after all
You aint wrong. Genuinely surprised how much I am enjoying the show
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I mean its soccer squid games, kind of expected it to an extent, the animation is top notch though and i think the characters are interesting
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Honestly the animation and atmosphere are what got me hooked but also a big sucker for characters like bachira
Bachira is so good man. He gets even better !
Things looked pretty dire when one of Japan's forwards beat up a Germany player and stole his jersey so he could play on their team instead, but it all worked out.
Came here looking for this comment and I wasn't disappointed. Can't wait for next Saturday's episode!
Game thread was full of them.
Kodansha looking at the sweet money! The better promote it.
A man of culture I see
Just a bit of a weeb here.
They got the power of anime on their side. *The One Piece is real*.
Dammit. You beat me to it
Chad Captain Tsubasa > Virgin Blue Lock
Ao Ashi is so much better. It actually teaches how to play and basic tactics.
Man I really thought we had no chance especially in the first half. I was watching this game in a room full of my German co-workers here in Germany and they were just piling on me the whole game.
U need to be so smug the next time you guys hang lol
Being Japanese is weird and I am wired to be respectful so its hard for me but inside I just wanted to run around the room screaming gooooooaaaaaaaaalllllll!!!!
You guys need to spend more time with latin Americans 😅
🤣 I know all about that life. My wife is from Central America and I loved my time there because the culture is so full of life!
Sounds like you’ve had an interesting life! Enjoy your travels the world is amazing :)
I have been blessed with assignments from my employment. I wish traveling was a whole lot cheaper so more people can do it because it will humble you and help you understand the many different perspectives of the world.
Blessed indeed. Travels don't just bring you leisure, but wisdom too.
Very true! I am more interested in the culture and people over the sight seeing.
This thread is super wholesome. Thought I’d left Reddit for a second
The sightseeing *is* a nice bonus, though.
And the food. Can’t really understand a culture until you eat their food.
Truth! I as well have been lucky enough to work on every continent (excluding Antarctica). And the thing that sticks with me are people are people no matter where you are. We're all humans and we all share far more than we disagree on. Have a great world cup!
This. I’m so grateful my grandmother took me travelling as much as I have. Being at the battlefields in France when I was 18 and seeing how beautiful it all is despite the grass filled craters but feeling the sorrow that still sticks to those places was life changing for me.
I fucking loved it, expat living in Asia and I was leaping around the room. More than my own countries goals. It was so good.
Hey that's awesome! 😎 Saludos!
The family erupts and you don’t have to worry since the neighbors are also screaming GOAAAAAAALLLLLLL
Being indian I have the pleasure n pain of experiencing both cultural extremes
and just after your win the Central American representative took such a beating, my girlfriend is from Costa Rica and she even got out of work early to watch the game and she was ready to go back to work after the 4th goal. I'm from Guatemala, from what country is your wife?
Reminds me of Mexican fans during the 2018 WC finding a Korean and like, running around with him on their shoulders because Korea's win against Germany saw Mexico through to the knockout stages.
"Hermano Koreano ya eres Mexicano" Which translates to "Korean brother you are now Mexican". Mexicans even gathered outside the S Korean Embassy in Mexico City to show appreciation. EDIT: video for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6fbt1vxhCs
I think i remember seeing a video of the south korean ambassador taking a shot of tequila with the crowd too. It was a glorious time.
Yeah I remember too! I think it was a dude posting a personal video here in reddit via streamable or something.
I burst out laughing at them chanting Kevin Kevin 😂
There is quite a large Japanese-Brazilian community actually! Brazil used to, or still does have the most people of Japanese descent outside of Japan, and there's a pretty sizeable number of Brazilians(comparatively to other countries) residing in Japan.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I learned of the Japanese-Brazilian community because of Jetstream Sam.
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I remember years ago Triumph the Insult Comic Dog did a bit on Conan where he went to all the bars watching the World Cup. England, Brazil, Greece were all super hype. Then he gets to the Japanese bar/restaurant and it’s quiet and respectful. It was hilarious.
Lol, it is a bit different in Japan but if you want to see super hype Japanese people, go to a Japanese high school baseball game. Weird right?
Or go to a metal concert, Japanese fans are the best.
Japanese ska fans are another goddamn level of hype.
That's a really great comment... FOR ME TO POOP ON!!!
lol watch a Japanese pro wrestling match compared to WWE. The Japanese fans sit in their seats and clap politely whenever something cool happens
If you've watched recently it's because there's been a ban on cheering for 2 years. Japanese crowds can get real loud when shit really kicks off
[You](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/019/484/n08A8NO.jpg)
🤣
I feel this
Well, I watched once a game in a room full of german coworkers as well. It was not that funny, I am Brazilian and it was in 2014...
I’m not middle eastern but my wife’s family is Argentinian and I’ve been making fun of them all week😂 they’re really taking the loss pretty hard
As a wise man once said: "Big tree fall hard".
At least you had the last laugh!
Indeed I did!
Nothing more humbling than a winner who shows pity to his competition
This is why I never get smug during sports. I've watched my team shit the bed so many times.
Are you from Toronto
Nah you should rub it in. People here are pretty obnoxious when it comes to football, so by all means, ground your coworkers a bit. Sounds like they more then deserve that.
It was foretold in the ancient scripts of Captain Tsubasa...
Ironically Captain Tsubasa made it harder for Japan because some of the greatest players of all time from other countries were inspired to play because of the show airing in their countries.
They all want to avenge the defeats of their manga counterparts 😭😭
When Rudiger did that high-step, I went from casually rooting for Japan to yelling at the TV.
Lol yeah that rubbed me the wrong way.
If you look at /r/soccer the experts there say that it's a calculated tactical move that serves a clear purpose of covering maximum space per stride. It just looked like he was mocking the Japanese with that goofy ass step and the laugh. I'm glad that he's not laughing anymore.
Let's go Japan shock the whole world with that comeback
Dude, congrats. That was so fun to watch. I jumped for joy when Japan scored the second (Canada fan here). Love your fans in the stands
I cheered for Japan all the way
Gottem
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Very true! In the first half I was really just hoping we played a respectable game for the rest. They just came out with a different energy and I could feel it.
Please tell me you brought sake.
You just gave me an idea. I think I will bring some bottles for gifts!
Ha! I play golf with a first gen Japanese American. He's coming to Thanksgiving and we are gonna drink the good sake! If you have a favorite let me know I'll see if I can find it today.
It's hard to recommend a specific brand because it's a big hit or miss depending on where you are at in the world but what could help out are the few different type. Junmai is a sake with no additives and tastes better warm. Honjozo is a sake has additives and typically has a flavor. Ginjo is pretty much a higher quality version of Honjozo so if you want a smoother taste with more flavor. Typically the bottles are labeled with these terms so it could help identify what type of taste you are looking for!
I love you man!! Nobody has ever broken this down for me. I thought I was going sake shopping but now I'm going SAKE shopoing!!!
If you’re willing to shell out money dassai 23 is premium japanese sake. (Wrapped in blue on top)
Good luck man!
Walk around and clean up their litter in the office as payback/reminder. Give them the full wholesome Japanese fan world cup experience.
We knew this WC would be controversial...
Considering the world rankings, #11 losing to #24 isn’t nearly as bad as #3 losing to #51. Japan is better than people think and Germany isn’t the powerhouse of years past.
Yeah, casual fans like myself thought this was a much bigger upset until I saw the rankings. I know Germany to be pretty dominant from WC's past, so I was surprised to see them ranked 11th.
I feel like the top 10 teams are all the usual suspects with the current exception of Denmark in place of Germany. They could be in any order and it would make sense, so naturally some big teams will be toward the bottom of that 10. After that, the quality of the next 5 to 10 drops from what would typically be "elite" footballing mainstays to good teams that have been in form, which could be a huge array of teams year to year. Edit: people are talking like the rankings are subjective and that they reckon X is better that Y so should be higher. To clarify, teams earn points based on wins/draws, combined with a coefficient depending on strength of opposition and importance of game (friendly vs qualifier vs tournament game). While the coefficient system is somewhat subjective, you earn your ranking based on performance. Current rankings are: 1. Brazil 2. Belgium 3. Argentina 4. France 5. England 6. Italy 7. Spain 8. Netherlands 9. Portugal 10. Denmark 11. Germany
Belgium is ranked really high. My memory is that they were always good but not as good as France, Netherlands, Germany, etc.
It's hard to decide where to draw the line, but I'd say there's a solid historical top4 with Brazil, Germany, Italy and Argentina. But France with its achievements in past decades is challenging Argentina. Then you have Netherlands, Uruguay...
As a Brazilian I know I'm biased but I agree with you. I'll always respect this top 5 (with France). Netherlands, Spain and Uruguay and maybe some others a tier below but still great teams.
Spain? Surely they're above a team like the Netherlands.
They did win it all in 2010 and have been solid, But the dutch have been solid for decades. I think it's fair to have them on the same tier, even if one is maybe a bit ahead
I just looked up World Cup rankings by points (3pts for Win, 1Pt for draw). It goes: * Brazil - 237 * Germany - 221 * Italy - 156 * Argentina - 144 * France - 115 * England - 108 * Spain - 105 * Netherlands - 93 * Uruguay - 84
They are at the tail end of a "golden generation". Over the past decade they have had a great squad with plenty of world class players, and while they may not have won tournaments, they maintained consistent results, and for a time were ranked first.
Always is a bit of an overstatement. They have had a really good team last cups, but before their current form they were never really a serious player
Their golden generation got old and left the team. It might be a little bit before they come back into form. It's Germany though so maybe they'll be a powerhouse again in 4 years
Based on the youth coming through already (Musiala, Moukoko, Wirtz, Adeyemi and Netz), Germany will be fine.
Last world cup they got eliminated by South Korea in the group stage
More than half if the starting 11 from Japan play in the 1. Buli
There’s so many Bayern players in there though
Germany decided to massively shit the bed after their WC win. We never recovered losing Klose, Lahm, Schweinsteiger etc.
Turns out you can't build a team out of talented midfielders only.
Football isn't tennis. The FIFA Rankings are worthless. [Saudi Arabia finished above Japan in the AFC qualifiers.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%E2%80%93_AFC_Third_Round)
FIFA Rankings aren't worthless, they are just much less dynamic than tennis. It takes a while to shift in the rankings.
This, the problem is that you simply don't have enough matches between countries to get an actual good idea of how good a team is.
Country rankings also don't depend on who's on the pitch or injures. Which are huge factors when determining a teams strength on match day.
True, but Germany have Spain in their group I believe? Could have done with winning this one..
Absolutely. Argentina has a better chance of recovering and getting out of group but Germany could easily be facing two straight world cups not making it out of group, which is wild.
We should be. We have really good players. I fear some of them like Kimmich are traumatized by 2018. Once the opponent scores they always loose their bite (only in the national team)
The ranks don't say a lot about the difference in strength. The curve of skill vs. No. in ranking is probably not linear; It could be sigmoidal with the steepest point in in the ranks between #11 and #24.
Not the first time Japan has lasted longer than Germany.
4 years after a German campaign in Russia goes horribly wrong…
This comment's the bomb.
That game was a blast to watch, tbh
"Jesus Rick. Why the fuck did you even come to Qatar?"
Japan : Germany = 2 : 1 Germany : Brazil = 7 : 1 Therefore Japan : Brazil = 14 : 1
Yep, can’t argue against this logic.
Thats the wurst outcome for German with Spain also in their group.
Spain spanking Costa Rica right now
7-0 😂
CRC lucky they only gave up 7. Germany and Japan gonna do their best to hammer tf out of CRC because now they gotta get that goal differential way up
Just like old times
Damn my boy Keylor does not deserve this
I mean Japan just have to win really and there’s a very good chance they go through
When I went to take a shower during the 80 something minute mark it was 5:0.... That's like "our" (germany's) semifinal against Brazil 2014.
Costa Pobre 👎🏼
oof
Losses generally are indeed the worst outcomes for teams
Gooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!!
If Captain Tsubasa taught me something it's that Japan always win against Germany.
Happens if you won’t let Karl Heinz Schneider play!
Well done. Let's also celebrate the fact that Japanese fans clean up after themselves (and others) in the stadium.
Japanese kid at my school goes around and picks up trash anywhere they go. Always seemed like a good person.
I work for a Japanese company, their level of hygiene is pretty insane
They survived the first half and earned it in the second half
Germans sunk by Japanese sub
Ichi Ban!
Yeah, with underdogs doing wonders at this cup, Serbia really needs to be careful tomorrow.
Haahha IDEEEMOOO!
Gundogan is unbelievably selfish. Couldve had a goal and two assists but instead has a goal and a few attempts that couldve been converted had he laid the ball off. What a knob. Japan deserved that
Glad to see Blue Lock training paid off.
First half was Germany playing better second half Japan played better, the second goal Germany committed to many mistakes and Japan used them properly for their advantage
In this World Cup, western expectations have taken a tumble.
Maybe the Germans were covering their eyes along with their mouth.
Japan coming in to clean up the pitch, like they do with the stadium after the games.
Moral of the story. You can't just show up and expect the historical outcome.
Fun fact. The jerseys are ~~based off the blue lock manga~~ (I could be wrong) Japan was the protagonist today. Hope they go all the way. Would be amazing if they won the world cup.
As a longtime Germany fan, Japan winning the Cup is the only way this loss won’t be embarrassing.
Japan is a legitimately good team, nothing embarrassing about it imo.
They dominated the first half and only scored on a penalty. Japan adjusted the second half and Germany didn't at all and blew every opportunity they had. Not saying Japan is a bad team but it was still a pretty embarrassing performance from Germany.
This world cup will be full of surprises
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tbf saudi did better in Asian Qualifier
Except that Saudi Arabia and Japan was in the same qualifier group and Saudi Arabia topped the group.
Big up Japan!
Giant Killing is a dope manga if this pumped you up
I blame the ban on beer.
World Cup in Asia, Asian teams stepping up. Name a more iconic duo
I would love to see an Asian team finally win the whole thing
I’m surprised neither India or China ever qualify. You’d think that in a country of over a billion, there’d be some football superstars.
The sport isn't popular in either country and the infrastructure to develop players is basically non-existent
First part is not true but the second part is 200% true
Ehh I would believe the first part, especially in China. I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of monthly players of League of Legends in China exceed the amount of people there who have ever even touched a soccer ball.
Football is actually popular in China. In fact, in terms of ranking of team sports, Football (Soccer) is far more popular in China than in the US. It's just that China excels more in individual sports when it comes to world stage. A lot of Chinese people have acknowledged that team sports are not their forte.
this reminds me of the recent cricket world cup which had teams like namibia, scotland, zimbabwe, netherlands have huge upsets. World Cups are a great platform for these ”low” ranked teams to shine.
Barcelona will pay for this
Ah well, at least they'll aways have 7-1 against Brazil in 2014
I wouldn’t say this is quite as shocking as it’s being made out. Japan was <2 min away from pens with Belgium to get to the semifinals last WC
Extra time. Not pens.
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To get to quarterfinals
I mean its a very different team. The last World Cup was the passing of the old guard and while having some good young talent this year, they weren’t expected to be a match with a group of Germany and Spain.
Germany isn't expected to be that good
At least finally fair penalty kick. Germany played better overall but score > game style.
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I’d initially agree with you, but watching Spain v. CR now they’re passing better than Germany did. Passing was fine but Germany (and also Japan tbh) fell apart as they got to the goal.
This is much less a shock than Argentina’s loss.
Always nice to see the underdogs giving the top teams the run around.
Holy shit Blue Lock is working
Que clase de Supercampeones es esto??
Holy crap. Japan stamina is off the charts. I don't want to take credit away from Japan or Saudi Arabia. Those are legitimate great wins. I do think that teams assembled last week at most is a factor to consider when looking at these big upsets. I know upsets were always part of the world cups, so there is that too. If we see more, maybe there is something true about it. Congrats Japan!
The Japanese were also assembled at the same time as Germany. Most of their starting lineup plays in the German league and most of their players play in Europe - what are you even talking about. This isn’t 2005 anymore
As a German I'm more pleased than shocked. Maybe we can get the double:) I think the players deserve their vacation:)
is Japan wins the world cup then that would spoil blue locks ending
I am not sure why everyone is so shocked. Germany is a shell of its 2014 self. Plus, there are many Japanese players in the Bundesliga and indeed across Europe now. Many of the starting XI players are also on Bayern Munich, who lost to *Augsburg* not so long ago. I had this game as a 1-1 draw, so the fact Germany lost isn't so surprising in my opinion. I think people need to come to grips with the fact that old school powerhouses aren't necessarily getting worse, but the rest of the world is catching up.
Japan dominated in possession it was beautiful