Japan

Eiji Kawashima- 7

The veteran keeper showed his experience, easily dealing with Falcao’s volleys at the start of the match to maintain Japan’s advantage. Not much he could do about the free-kick as it was slotted just out of reach.

Hiroki Sakai- 6

Pressed the one man advantage for Japan, pushing up the field to provide width to Japan’s attack and getting the ball to players in the box.

Maya Yoshida- 8

Lead from the back, switching up play to create space laterally for Japan. He played a deep centre-back role that allowed him to dictate the pace of the game following Japan’s early lead. Looked dangerous in the air from set pieces.

Gen Shoji- 7

A quiet game from the Japanese defender, he worked well with Yoshida to anchor the defence.  

Yuto Nagatomo- 7.5

Was seemingly everywhere Japan needed him to be, providing urgency to their technical style of play. However, his tendency to hang onto the ball in the second half resulted in easy turn overs.

Makoto Hasebe- 6

Had his hands full with Mojic but did extremely well to not dive in, instead keeping the Colombian attackers out wide to give Japan time to get bodies behind the ball.  

Gaku Shibasaki- 6

Didn’t do much to stand out but put the effort in to get back and defend.  

Genki Haraguchi- 5.5

Pushed forward to pressure the defence but couldn't’t seem to get his positioning and timing exactly right to pose a real threat in around goal.