Kenneth AFOR, LAGOS
Japan has been kicked out of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar by Croatia after a decisive penalty shootout where the European country won by 3-1 at the Al Janoub Stadium on Monday evening.
Japan first found the back of the net in the 43rd minutes from a short corner and Doan sent in a cross which saw Yoshida wins the initial header and Maeda reacted swiftly to the knockdown sending the ball into the net to make it 1-0.
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Ten (10) into the second half, Lovren’s cross into the box was slightly under hit and favouring Ivan Perisic, who headed the ball into the bottom right corner with a lot of power to level the game.
The game which ended 1-1 after after ninety (90) minutes extended into two extra times – 15 minutes each and after a cumulative of thirty minutes the two countries failed to find the back of the net and they headed for penalty shootout. After four shots each Croatia took the day scoring three and Japan were able to score just one of four shots.
Croatia will meet the winner between former champions, Brazil and South Korea
