Paraguay beat Japan on penalties
Paraguay beat Japan on penalties
Posted: Jun 29 2010
Paraguay beat Japan 5-3 on penalties after the sides were tied at 0-0 after extra-time at Loftus Versfeld.
There were few genuine chances over the course of a tense match. La Albirroja had the better of the play but struggled to create chances against a well disciplined Blue Samurai defence, while the Japanese were frequently found wanting for real imagination in the attack.
Extra-time was only equally tense, so it took penalties to decide the outcome in favour of la Albirroja.
There was life in the latter stages of the game, but neither side looked capable of finding a breakthrough against cautious opponents. Extra-time was therefore the logical outcome.
The first five minutes of the additional period offered little in terms of an alteration in terms of the pattern of the game, though Kengo Nakamura had an ambitious shot deflected wide for the Samurai Blue before the South Americans regained their dominance.
Barrios was thwarted by Kawashima, who would make an even better block from Valdez moments later after the forward had spun effectively at the edge of the box.
Once again this hopeful start proved to be little more than a false dawn as the fear of losing outweighed the desire to claim victory. Set pieces provided the likelier route to goal, but neither goalkeeper was tested in the closing 20 minutes of the additional half hour
The best moment came through a Keiji Tamada break down the left. Though his initial spurt was arrested, a clever flick from Shinji Okazaki had the veteran through on goal, though his attempted pass from a difficult angle couldn’t pick out a team-mate.
After all of the first five penalties had been scored, Komano sent his kick against the top of the bar. Paraguay were thereafter flawless from the spot and deservedly progressed to the last eight of the competition for the first time.
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