OlyWhites v Japan, 31/07/21

The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home

Japan Prevails On Penalties To End OlyWhites' Dream

by Jeremy Ruane

Host nation Japan brought an end to the OlyWhites' dream of Olympic glory on July 31, edging the New Zealand team 4-2 on penalties in the Ibaraki Kashima Stadium after the teams had fought out a scoreless draw over the course of 120 gruelling humidity-laden minutes.

An understandably cagey opening stanza unfolded between two sides with plenty at stake - this was the Olympic Men's Football Tournament quarter-final, after all. And it was Japan who engineered the first opening of the contest, Ritsu Doan seeing his shot blocked by Winston Reid after a dazzling sixty yard run downfield by the eye-catchingly-performed Wataru Endo.

The intervention of New Zealand's captain, whose appearance was a surprise given the knee injury he picked up against Honduras, presented Japan with a corner, which was taken short and quickly.

Doan combined with Takefusa Kubo to feed Daichi Hayashi, whose cross to the far post was somehow skied from three yards by Endo - it appeared easier to score than miss, but with the goal at his mercy, the speedster opted for a spectacular failure in his bid to break the deadlock early doors.

The OlyWhites' first chance came seven minutes later, Matthew Garbett latching onto a stray pass before working a one-two with Chris Wood, only for the midfielder to fire high, wide and far from handsomely over the target.

The first of six bookings by American referee Ismael Elfath soon materialised when Joe Bell - he had a fine game, this blemish apart - fouled an opponent. It must be said the Japanese certainly weren't slow in going to ground when the opportunity presented itself, although not all such instances were merited.

The host nation enjoyed plenty of possession during the first half, but it was the Kiwis who created the next chance, a 25th minute opening engineered by Ben Waine and Callan Elliot for Garbett's benefit, the midfielder this time seeing his shot blocked by Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Japan responded by coming close to taking the lead on the half-hour, Yuki Soma leading the charge before feeding Kubo, who evaded a challenge before whipping in a low cross which Doan, arriving at the near post, fired wide from six yards.

Solid approach play by the Japanese culminated in an angled ball in from Soma for Doan soon after, but Michael Woud was wise to that idea, while the goalkeeper was pleased to see Doan squander another opening in the 34th minute, this time from eight yards after Endo and Soma worked a one-two on the left.

Cue a swift response from the OlyWhites, Wood holding the ball up well upon receipt of a Liberato Cacace cross, then inviting Garbett to find the overlapping Elliot with a measured pass. As he crossed the ball, however, the offside flag was raised, so even if Wood's wayward shot had been on target, there was no prospect of a goal being awarded.

On the stroke of half-time, Japan mounted a swift counter-attack, with Doan feeding the overlapping figure of Daiki Hashioka. His first-time cross targeted the fast-arriving figure of Kubo, but Elliot's timely tackle thwarted his hopes of snatching a goal on the stroke of half-time.

OlyWhites' coach Danny Hay would have been well pleased with the efforts of his charges to this point, none more so than Reid, given he was effectively playing on one leg.

Alas, just six minutes into the second half, and after Reid had blocked yet another attempt by Doan to break the deadlock, said leg cried 'Enough!", and the OlyWhites' captain was forced to make way for Callum McCowatt.

This change gave Hay the chance to alter his tactics, switching from a 3-5-2 set-up to a 4-2-3-1 arrangement, which worked equally as well, as things panned out. Indeed, before it had a chance to bed in, the OlyWhites had the chance to take the lead when a wayward clearance by goalkeeper Kosei Tani, who was well out of his area, landed at the feet of Clayton Lewis. Alas, he failed to seize on the long-range opportunity …

Gianni Stensness was booked soon afterwards for an attempt to indulge in his country's national sport while playing the game the world plays - we don't do rugby tackles in the round ball game, laddie! Garbett clearly didn't get the memo, as he was guilty of something decidedly similar nine minutes later, and it was no surprise to see the same punishment being administered by well-performed referee Elfath.

Indeed, in between these "tackles", Bell was guilty of kicking the ball away in error, which could have proven costly given his early booking. The official's desire to keep the full complement of players on the park played into the OlyWhites' hands on this occasion.

Either side of that incident, both teams had chances to break the deadlock, with Japanese captain Maya Yoshida in action at both ends of the park just prior to the hour mark.

The ball ricocheted off him past the far post in the 56th minute following an Endo cross flicked on by the outstanding Nando Pijnaker, while from the resulting goal kick, a delightful interchange of passes featuring Waine, Bell, Wood and McCowatt culminated in a Cacace cross which Yoshida headed to safety.

Four minutes later, Stensness switched play to Cacace on the left, the fullback in turn feeding Lewis, whose cross to the far post found Wood. He headed the ball down to Garbett, who invited Elliot to deliver a hanging cross which Tani spilled under pressure from Wood, only to regather swiftly.

The OlyWhites were playing some really enterprising, sophisticated, pass-based football at times, the sort rarely seen by silver-fern-wearing line-ups over the years. New Zealand football can look forward to an exciting decade or so on the evidence of this display, especially with the likes of Sarpreet Singh and Ryan Thomas to add to this mix of talent.

After Endo and McCowatt had exchanged shots on goal - Woud and Tani saved the respective efforts, Hayashi was narrowly wide with a twenty-five yarder in the 73rd minute, before a Stensness error presented Kubo with a great opportunity through

the inside right channel sixty seconds later, only for Woud to parry then grab the effort at the second attempt.

Fourteen minutes from time, Japan squandered another glorious chance to break the deadlock. Endi released Doan down the right, from where he delivered an inviting cross to the far post.

Flying in to meet it was Reo Hatate, who lost Elliot in the process but could only guide his close-range header over the bar - he should have at least hit the target! Woud was in trouble if he had.

Back came the OlyWhites, Lewis and Bell combining for the benefit of McCowatt, who evaded a challenge then fired a low cross into the penalty area. The retreating figure of Tomiyasu directed the ball into the near post side-netting. Lewis took the resulting corner, but Wood was unable to connect cleanly with his header, much to Japan's relief.

The last ten minutes saw both goals come under serious threat as the two teams strived to escape the sauna - 82% humidity - rather than play an additional half-hour in it.

Doan was Japan's prime source of creativity, and in the 82nd minute he weaved an opening on the right, despite Pijnaker's presence - the defender was jockeying him in textbook fashion.

Doan still found an opening, and the beneficiary was the completely unmarked figure of substitute Ayase Ueda, some six yards out from goal. He shot first time at the target, only for Woud to pull off a fantastic reflex save which kept the OlyWhites on level terms.

Three minutes later, Ueda's lay-off to Doan allowed the playmaker to surge forward with Endo in support. The number ten let fly from twenty-five yards, to which Woud responded by producing a solid parried save low to his left.

This prompted a fine interchange on the left involving Cacace, Lewis and McCowatt. Lewis ran on down the left before firing a cross-shot into the danger zone, but too high for Wood to exploit.

Into stoppage time we went, with freshly introduced substitute Joey Champness eager to make an impact on proceedings. He picked out Wood with a cross from the left, only for Tani to intervene and send the quarter-final into extra time.

Woud was extremely prominent during the opening stanza of the additional thirty minutes, dashing off his line to block at the feet of Ueda in the 95th minute, before tipping the ball over the bar after Doan's corner had been met by substitute Kou Itakura, the ball ricocheting skywards off Pijnaker and arcing dangerously towards the target.

Woud wasn't taking any chances, and maintained that philosophy in the 100th minute as he smothered Doan's cross following an opening engineered with the assistance of Kaoru Mitoma, who, with Itakura, had been introduced to the fray at the start of extra time.

Sixty seconds later, Doan led a counter-attack which saw Kubo released down the right. Pijnaker held his ground, forcing the flank player to chance his arm from an acute angle. Woud was right behind his shot, and looked on with relief a minute later as Doan lashed a shot narrowly over the bar after pouncing on a Pijnaker clearance.

With half-time in extra time looming large, the OlyWhites finally produced an attack, and they should have opened the scoring as a result. Cacace and Lewis combined well with Champness, who beat fullback Hashioka superbly before whipping a low cross into the goalmouth.

The ball went beyond the incoming figure of Wood and arrived in between the feet of substitute Elijah Just, who promptly lost his footing as he looked to capitalise on a terrific opportunity some eight yards out from goal.

When the players started the second half of extra time, Japan sprung a huge surprise by withdrawing Doan, their most dangerous player, from the fray. This gave the OlyWhites a huge boost, and they came close to capitalising on his absence in the 108th minute.

Lewis hit a free-kick which struck the arm of a Japanese player in the defensive wall inside the penalty area. The ball ricocheted to Just, whose shot was blocked on the line by Doan's replacement, Koji Miyoshi. The ball was cleared to Cacace, whose deflected shot arced up before landing on the roof of the net … but no corner was awarded by the officials.

Seven minutes later, what turned out to be the last chance of an enthralling encounter saw Kubo lash a shot past the far post after coming in off the right flank onto a Miyoshi pass. There were to be no goals in this encounter, however, with penalties necessary to decide who would face Spain in the semi-final in Saitama in three days' time.

The OlyWhites took the first kick, with Wood converting calmly. Cacace was next up for the Kiwis, only for Tani to save to his right. When Lewis, the next New Zealand penalty-taker, sent the ball over the bar, the OlyWhites were on life support, and while McCowatt converted his effort, it only delayed the inevitable.

Ueda, Itakura and Yuta Nakayama had been successful in tucking home their penalties prior to this shot, meaning that if captain Yoshida converted his, the host nation would be in contention for an Olympic medal.

He did, clinching a 4-2 triumph on penalties for Japan over an OlyWhites team which can be well proud of its efforts at the 2020 Olympic Men's Football Tournament, and which has given New Zealand football the promise of a strong decade ahead on the world stage with a group of highly talented players who will make up the core of the All Whites' squad for the next two World Cups at least.

Japan: Tani; Hashioka, Yoshida, Tomiyasu (booked, 89), Hatate (Itakura, 91); Kubo, Doan (Miyoshi, 106 (booked, 114)), Tanaka (Mitoma, 91), Endo, Soma (Nakayama, 69); Hayashi (Ueda, 69)

OlyWhites: Woud; Stensness (booked, 55), Reid (McCowatt, 51), Pijnaker; Elliot (Ingham, 79), Bell (booked, 18), Lewis, Garbett (booked, 64) (Just, 79), Cacace (booked, 71); Waine (Champness, 85), Wood

Referee: Ismael Elfath (USA)

OlyWhites