Japan head coach Akira Nishino said on Monday that his team wanted to score more when they were 2-0 up against Belgiuma and did not expect to concede a goal in the dying seconds of the game.
Belgium overcame 2-0 deficit to beat Japan 3-2 in the round of 16 game in Rostov-on-Don on Monday.
"We wanted to win it. Our team is strong enough and against Belgium we could at least match them, I believed. There were different plans in my mind and of course we started off very well but at the end, right at the end, to have conceded a goal like that was not expected. When we were 2-0 up and I didn't change my players, I really wanted to score another goal and we did have opportunities. At that point, when the free-kick and corner-kick were taken, we wanted to decide and finish the match. Of course at that point I thought we might go to extra-time but I did not expect that kind of super counter-attack and my players didn’t expect that in a few seconds the ball would be carried into our half and it would decide the match," Nishino said, as quoted by the FIFA website.
Japan were eliminated from the World Cup, while Belgium will play Brazil in the quarter-final match in Kazan on Friday.
Related Articles
Socceroos bid to avoid World Cup calamity
Muscat sounds Socceroos warning as Samurai Blue bid to deliver brutal blow
