Kicker: Japan defeat Brazil with high morale, fresh from World Cup disappointment

Japan lost to Brazil in the World Cup Round of 16 this summer, according to Kicker. Now, in a friendly match in Singapore, Japan has successfully taken revenge—and the ending was quite insane.

The Japanese still have painful memories of their 2-1 World Cup loss in late June. The Blue Samurai's desire for revenge was even stronger in their next match against Brazil. Japan therefore entered the friendly match in Singapore with great fighting spirit.

In his second-to-last match as national team coach, Hajime Moriyasu fielded Hoffenheim's Koki Machida, Bayern's Hiroki Ito, and Eintracht Frankfurt's Ritsu Doan (who also wore the captain's armband), among others. Just 15 minutes into the match, Ritsu Doan delivered a through ball, and Takefusa Kubo burst into the box, dribbled past a defender, and calmly slotted the ball into the near corner. Just four minutes later, Japan erupted again, with Nakamura extending the lead to 2-0 (19th minute) after a superb assist from Nakano.

Brazil, who had just defeated India 4-0, was then forced to step up. However, it only took one individual performance to bring the World Cup record holders back into the game: from a seemingly harmless situation, Vinicius unleashed a long-range shot to make it 2-1 (33rd minute).

In the second half, Brazil continued to press for an equalizer and indeed leveled the score 15 minutes before the end of the match: Guimaraes again assisted Vinicius, who briefly held the ball before firing a spectacular shot from the left side of the box, with the ball hitting the inside of the right post and going in (75th minute). Was this a spark for the 26-year-old, who hadn't scored for Real Madrid or the national team since late September?

The final stages of the match were very open, and Japan also saw opportunities, seizing one in stoppage time: after an attack down the left wing, Brazil repeatedly failed to clear the danger, and then Sano's deflected long-range shot fell to Tatsuhiro Sakamoto. The Coventry City player dribbled past goalkeeper Pedro Morisco and scored the winning goal, making it 3-2 (90+1 minute).

However, immediately after the late winner, the atmosphere became heated. Referee Jansen Foo Chuan Hui from Singapore was called to the sideline by the fourth official, who first showed a red card to a stunned Ancelotti, and then sent off the already substituted captain Raphinha. Afterward, the Brazilian players—including Ancelotti—protested vehemently to the referee, but he clearly did not change his decision.