Italy line-up: Buffon, Maggio (Abate, 59'), Chiellini, De Sciglio, Barzagli, Aquilani (Giovinco, 30'), De Rossi, Montolivo, Pirlo, Giaccherini (Marchisio, 68'), Balotelli
Japan line-up: Kawashima, Nagatomo, Uchida (Sakai, 73'), Konno, Yoshida, Honda, Endo, Kagawa, Hasebe (Nakamura, 90'), Okazaki, Maeda (Havenaar, 79')
Italy edge a fantastic seven goal thriller to send them through and eliminate Japan. It was without doubt the best game of the tournament so far and one that Italy may feel fortunate to have won. It was a topsy turvy affair as a Keisuke Honda penalty and Shinji Kagawa strike put the Japanese 2-0 ahead. Goals from Daniele De Rossi and an Astuto Uchida own goal either side of half time levelled the match before an extremely harsh penalty was converted by Mario Balotelli to give Italy the lead. Shinji Okazaki levelled for Japan and they looked like they were going to win, but only managed to hit the woodwork on three occasions. Then Japan were hit by the sucker punch as first half substitute Sebastian Giovinco popped up to win the match with four minutes to play.
The match began with Japan going all out attack and Italy failing to get out of their own half. Ryoichi Maeda had an early header that was straight and Gianluigi Buffon and Yasuhito Endo fired a warning shot over the bar. Italy didn't create their first attack until the 12th minute which ended up being a cross that was punched clear by Eiji Kawashima.
Japan continued to bear down on Italy and this time Shinji Kagawa, who was probably the player of the first half, hit a fantastic long range effort that was bound for the top corner until Buffon tipped it over the bar. Japan would finally get their breakthrough on the 20-minute mark when a sloppy back pass from Mattia De Sciglio was almost pounced upon by Maeda. Buffon looked to come and took out the striker, leaving the referee to point to the spot. However replays showed that Buffon actually got the ball and it wasn't a penalty. But Buffon was still lucky to remain on the pitch as the referee only brandished a yellow card. After the commotion, Honda stepped up and coolly converted in to the bottom corner, leaving Buffon rooted to the spot.
The goal didn't really kick Italy in to gear. The thought they should have had a penalty when Balotelli went down but the referee awarded a free-kick to Japan for handball. By the half hour mark, Cesare Prandelli had had enough and decided to change things, bringing Giovinco on for Alberto Aquilani.
This still didn't change things immediately and three minutes later, Japan were 2-0 ahead. Italy looked have defended a corner but it came back in to the box. The defenders seemed to miss it and Kagawa was the first to react, swivelling to smash the ball in to the bottom corner, sending the Asians in to a frenzy.
Italy finally grew in to the game with five minutes left of the half. Andrea Pirlo began to get a foothold and sent a warning with a free-kick that just went over the bar. A minute later and Pirlo was causing havoc again, this time fizzing a low cross along the box that went out for a corner. Pirlo would take that corner and De Rossi was on hand to head home at the near post to give Italy a chance. They were almost level before half-time when Emanuele Giaccherini found space in the box and hit the post.
Italy would then level five minutes in to the second half and it was a goal that Japan should have easily prevented. Southampton's Maya Yoshida was guilty of not clearing his lines and Giovinco managed to prevent the ball from going out of play. As he surged in to the box, he slid the ball across where Balotelli was waiting for a tap in, only for Uchida to unfortunately slide it in to his own net.
A minute later and Italy were given a huge slice of luck. A Giovinco shot took a couple of deflections as it rolled to Kawashima. But the referee ending up pointing the spot for handball. Replays showed the ball did hit Makoto Hasebe on the arm but this was after it had already hit his thigh while he was in the slide. The arm wasn't in an unnatural position and a penalty was extremely harsh. Not that it bothered Balotelli who nonchalantly stepped up and converted to give Italy the lead. Giaccherini almost made it 4-2 before the hour mark but his effort was parried by Kawashima for a corner.
Japan weren't disheartened though and they continued to attack. Kagawa was causing problems after his cross was poorly punched by Buffon which caused a bit of a scramble. Kagawa then found a superb ball over the top for Maeda but his touch was a little heavy and it caused him to run out of room.
Their persistence paid off though as they would find that equaliser on 69-minutes. It came straight from an Endo free-kick, he sent it in and Okazaki had made the run to the front post to head home and keep their hopes of staying the competition alive. Italy had resorted to constant defending and it looked like they would come undone.
Soon it was all Japan again. Honda performed a fantastic run, beating three defenders before having his shot parried by Buffon, a great advertisement for his free services next season. Hasebe came close with a rifled effort that just went over the bar and if anyone was going to score, it was going to be Japan.
With eight minutes to go, Japan came even closer to grabbing the winner; Okazaki fired a shot against the post after a low cross had been cleared out to him. The rebound fell to Kagawa whose header against the ground bounced up and agonisingly hit the cross bar.
Four minutes later and Italy broke the Japanese hearts. The Azzurri managed to break and Claudio Marchisio was put through on goal. He squared along the box for Giovinco to tap home, a substitute that was very much vindicated.
The drama wasn't over though as Japan still came back and thought they had equalised. They once again hit the cross bar from a short corner. The ball fell to Yoshida to poked the ball home, but the flag was up for offside, rightly, and Japan had to conceded defeat in what was an extraordinary game.
Italy will now battle it out with Brazil to decide who will win Group A, and probably avoid Spain. Japan and Mexico will be battling for pride in the other match.
Italy edge a fantastic seven goal thriller to send them through and eliminate Japan. It was without doubt the best game of the tournament so far and one that Italy may feel fortunate to have won. It was a topsy turvy affair as a Keisuke Honda penalty and Shinji Kagawa strike put the Japanese 2-0 ahead. Goals from Daniele De Rossi and an Astuto Uchida own goal either side of half time levelled the match before an extremely harsh penalty was converted by Mario Balotelli to give Italy the lead. Shinji Okazaki levelled for Japan and they looked like they were going to win, but only managed to hit the woodwork on three occasions. Then Japan were hit by the sucker punch as first half substitute Sebastian Giovinco popped up to win the match with four minutes to play.
The match began with Japan going all out attack and Italy failing to get out of their own half. Ryoichi Maeda had an early header that was straight and Gianluigi Buffon and Yasuhito Endo fired a warning shot over the bar. Italy didn't create their first attack until the 12th minute which ended up being a cross that was punched clear by Eiji Kawashima.
Japan continued to bear down on Italy and this time Shinji Kagawa, who was probably the player of the first half, hit a fantastic long range effort that was bound for the top corner until Buffon tipped it over the bar. Japan would finally get their breakthrough on the 20-minute mark when a sloppy back pass from Mattia De Sciglio was almost pounced upon by Maeda. Buffon looked to come and took out the striker, leaving the referee to point to the spot. However replays showed that Buffon actually got the ball and it wasn't a penalty. But Buffon was still lucky to remain on the pitch as the referee only brandished a yellow card. After the commotion, Honda stepped up and coolly converted in to the bottom corner, leaving Buffon rooted to the spot.
The goal didn't really kick Italy in to gear. The thought they should have had a penalty when Balotelli went down but the referee awarded a free-kick to Japan for handball. By the half hour mark, Cesare Prandelli had had enough and decided to change things, bringing Giovinco on for Alberto Aquilani.
This still didn't change things immediately and three minutes later, Japan were 2-0 ahead. Italy looked have defended a corner but it came back in to the box. The defenders seemed to miss it and Kagawa was the first to react, swivelling to smash the ball in to the bottom corner, sending the Asians in to a frenzy.
Italy finally grew in to the game with five minutes left of the half. Andrea Pirlo began to get a foothold and sent a warning with a free-kick that just went over the bar. A minute later and Pirlo was causing havoc again, this time fizzing a low cross along the box that went out for a corner. Pirlo would take that corner and De Rossi was on hand to head home at the near post to give Italy a chance. They were almost level before half-time when Emanuele Giaccherini found space in the box and hit the post.
Italy would then level five minutes in to the second half and it was a goal that Japan should have easily prevented. Southampton's Maya Yoshida was guilty of not clearing his lines and Giovinco managed to prevent the ball from going out of play. As he surged in to the box, he slid the ball across where Balotelli was waiting for a tap in, only for Uchida to unfortunately slide it in to his own net.
A minute later and Italy were given a huge slice of luck. A Giovinco shot took a couple of deflections as it rolled to Kawashima. But the referee ending up pointing the spot for handball. Replays showed the ball did hit Makoto Hasebe on the arm but this was after it had already hit his thigh while he was in the slide. The arm wasn't in an unnatural position and a penalty was extremely harsh. Not that it bothered Balotelli who nonchalantly stepped up and converted to give Italy the lead. Giaccherini almost made it 4-2 before the hour mark but his effort was parried by Kawashima for a corner.
Japan weren't disheartened though and they continued to attack. Kagawa was causing problems after his cross was poorly punched by Buffon which caused a bit of a scramble. Kagawa then found a superb ball over the top for Maeda but his touch was a little heavy and it caused him to run out of room.
Their persistence paid off though as they would find that equaliser on 69-minutes. It came straight from an Endo free-kick, he sent it in and Okazaki had made the run to the front post to head home and keep their hopes of staying the competition alive. Italy had resorted to constant defending and it looked like they would come undone.
Soon it was all Japan again. Honda performed a fantastic run, beating three defenders before having his shot parried by Buffon, a great advertisement for his free services next season. Hasebe came close with a rifled effort that just went over the bar and if anyone was going to score, it was going to be Japan.
With eight minutes to go, Japan came even closer to grabbing the winner; Okazaki fired a shot against the post after a low cross had been cleared out to him. The rebound fell to Kagawa whose header against the ground bounced up and agonisingly hit the cross bar.
Four minutes later and Italy broke the Japanese hearts. The Azzurri managed to break and Claudio Marchisio was put through on goal. He squared along the box for Giovinco to tap home, a substitute that was very much vindicated.
The drama wasn't over though as Japan still came back and thought they had equalised. They once again hit the cross bar from a short corner. The ball fell to Yoshida to poked the ball home, but the flag was up for offside, rightly, and Japan had to conceded defeat in what was an extraordinary game.
Italy will now battle it out with Brazil to decide who will win Group A, and probably avoid Spain. Japan and Mexico will be battling for pride in the other match.
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