Half-time in Houston and Brazil’s players trudged off knowing what the mood would be back home. They were 45 minutes from another early World Cup exit – their swiftest since 1966 – and national humiliation. Japan had taken the lead through Kaishu Sano’s stunning strike on 29 minutes and looked comfortable. For a team who had not come from behind to win a World Cup knockout game since 2002, things did not look good.
But Carlo Ancelotti remained unflustered. “No. Not really. I was confident in our team,” he said when asked if he was concerned. The Italian, Brazil’s first foreign coach at a World Cup, made only one enforced change at the break, replacing the injured Lucas Paqueta with Endrick. “Sometimes Ancelotti’s greatest ability is to do nothing,” said South American football expert Tim Vickery. “An oasis of calm in all the chaos around him – and it has paid off again.”
“Brazil came from behind to beat Japan 2-1 in stoppage time, avoiding earliest World Cup exit since 1966.”
Brazil started slinging crosses into the box and Japan wobbled. Casemiro, barely a pedestrian in the first half, headed the equaliser. Deep into stoppage time, Gabriel Martinelli – introduced on 66 minutes – squeezed in the winner after a deft through ball from Bruno Guimaraes. Japanese players fell to their knees in tears as Brazilian stars wheeled away in celebration. TV footage captured Japanese fans screaming in disbelief, while Brazil supporters draped opposition fans in the flag of the Canarinho.
“We didn’t lose our patience,” Ancelotti said. “We had a lot of resources on the pitch and on the bench but Japan aren’t an easy opponent. They’re very organised and intense.” He added that he was saving Neymar for extra time – the icon would have come on after 105 minutes if Brazil hadn’t scored.
For Japan, it was a fifth World Cup exit in the first knockout round. Manager Hajime Moriyasu had acknowledged before the tournament that Japan’s failure to win a knockout match had become a psychological issue, urging his side to think of winning the tournament. They came agonisingly close, but Brazil’s experience and Ancelotti’s calm ensured the greatest upset in World Cup history was averted. Brazil face either Ivory Coast or Norway in the last 16.