Japan Takes First Overseas World Cup Win

Japan, which prior to 2010 had never won a World Cup match outside its native land, finally won on foreign soil, outscoring the favored Cameroon squad 1–0 on Monday.

Japanese coach Takeshi Okada said the squad was aiming for the final four in the World Cup, and it appears now he might have been serious.

For this match, Okada used midfielder Kaisuke Honda as an attacker, who together with midfielder Daisuke Matsui, kept the ball moving into the Cameroon end. But they pair could only complete the effort once: in the 38th minute of the first half, Matsui brought the ball down the right side and then sent a cross to Kaisuke Honda, standing by the far post.

Honda knocked the ball down, paused, then drove it home from two yards out as the Cameroon defenders were poorly positioned to stop him.

That was all the scoring in the game, though both sides had a few good chances.

For its part, Cameroon couldn’t keep the ball in the Japanese end and couldn’t get enough players around the net. There always seemed to be a crowd of blue-shirted Japanese defenders swarming the ball, clogging the middle and pushing the ball up back the field.

Unable to get around or through the Japanese defense, in the 85th minute Stephane Mbia took matters into his own hands, hitting a blazing 40-yard long ball which beat Japanese goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima, but struck the crossbar.

Not until two minutes into stoppage time could Cameroon finally get a player wide enough to get around Japan’s defense, when Geremi got loose along the line and crossed to Pierre Webo, three yard in front of the net. Kawashima made an instant adjustment and smothered the shot, denying Cameroon its last chance.

Japan will face Netherlands next, on June 19, while Cameroon goes on to play Denmark the same day.