World Cup 2018: Japan strangle match in farcical stand-off with Poland to reach round of 16 by back door

The boos were ringing out all around Volgograd as Japan strangled this match to a staid and static conclusion. They didn’t care in the slightest. They knew the cheers back home would drown them out a thousand times over. By hook and by crook, Japan have made it into the second round, after treating a crowd of over 42,000 and a global television audience of millions to the surreal sight of a team aimlessly passing the ball around its own half in order to sit on a 1-0 defeat.

Poland, for their part, weren’t bothering to chase them too much in this sweltering heat. In the centre of midfield, Jacek Goralski simply stood with his hands on his hips. In goal, Lukasz Fabianski took a swig of water from the tide of bottles strewn around the perimeter of the pitch like debris. Was this really the pinnacle of the game? In a way, it merely underlined the stakes at play here: the lengths to which Japan were prepared to go in order to progress.

A minute or two after the final whistle, the news came through: Senegal had lost to Colombia, and Japan’s calculated gamble had paid off, going through by virtue of fewer yellow cards. A late equaliser in Samara would have exposed Japan’s go-slow tactics as a farcical blunder. But in a way, it epitomised the way they have gone about the tournament as a whole. Even in defeat here, they have shown an intelligence and courage that has allowed them to make the most of the undoubted luck they have been handed.

This was, after all, a team in disarray just a couple of months ago, when coach Vahid Halilhodzic was sacked amid rumours of a dysfunctional dressing room and clashes with senior players. In just a few short weeks, technical director Akira Nishino has given them an identity, a strategy, a style of play in. Sedate in the build-up but ruthlessly quick in transition, Japan have surprised many in this tournament, and whether it is England or Belgium they face next, they will pose a significant threat.

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Nishino gambled in other ways, too. He left household names Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa on the bench, even as Poland took the lead and it fleetingly looked as though Japan were heading home. He kept faith with goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima, too, despite his mistake against Senegal, and was rewarded with a string of fine saves.

First from Kamil Grosicki’s glancing header in the first half, which looked for all the yen in the world like it was creeping over the line. Then, in the second half, a sprinter’s dash out of his box to deny Piotr Zielinski a one-on-one opportunity. Then, another late on, this time from his own player Tomoaki Makino, as the permutations and the palpitations began to pile upon each other, all the way to the shrill and bewildering finish.

Poland’s part in this strange spectacle should not be understated, either. Already eliminated after two defeats, they at least have something to show for their fortnight in Russia, as Southampton’s Jan Bednarek smashed the ball in at the back post from a delightful Rafal Kurzawa free-kick. Hiroki Sakai was the Japanese defender guilty of not tracking, and even if Japan are well-drilled at the set piece, their lack of physical presence suggests that either England or Belgium could get some joy in that area.

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For Poland, the inquest can now begin. And it will ask how perhaps the country’s most gifted generation of footballers since the 1970s – if not quite golden, then certainly gifted – has so consistently underwhelmed on the biggest stage. Euro 2012 at home was a bitter disappointment. They were better in France two years ago, reaching the quarter-finals and not losing a game, but overall the last decade has been one of underachievement. They haven’t kept a clean sheet or won a live game at the World Cup – their last three victories have all been dead rubbers – since 1986. Robert Lewandowski was anonymous again here and has hinted that he may not be around in Qatar in four years time. An unsatisfying chapter in Poland’s footballing history feels like it may be coming to a close.

Japan, meanwhile, march on to Rostov. This wasn’t their greatest performance, but in the end they didn’t need it. And while they often slip under the radar at a World Cup, their magnificent fans and unstinting energy – until the end of the game, at least – are the sort of thing that make these tournaments what they are. England and Belgium underestimate them at their peril.