Late goals by substitutes Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano gave Japan an incredible 2-1 victory over Germany in the World Cup on Wednesday, November 23, 2022.
Strikes from Bundesliga club Freiburg's Ritsu Doan and VfL Bochum's Takuma Asano, who struck from fellow Bundesliga player Ko Itakura's deep free kick, gave the Asians their first ever win over Germany.
Four-time champion Germany led 1-0 at that point, courtesy an Ikay Gundogan penalty scored in the 33rd minute.
Doan equalised in the 75th minute before Asano showed lovely control and smashed the winner in from a tight angle -- causing an explosion of joy among the Japan bench and head shaking among German fans used to watching both players ply their trade in the Bundesliga.
Doan is a 24-year-old winger who plays for SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga. He has scored four goals for the German club in all competitions since joining it this year.
He made his national team debut in 2018 and had scored three goals in 29 appearances before the World Cup in Qatar.
Eight minutes later, Asano held off defender Nico Schlotterbeck before hammering the ball into the smallest of spaces.
Asano, 28, started his professional league football career in Japan's first division and was signed by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger in 2016. He has scored 10 goals for Japan in 38 appearances so far, the latest being the memorable one against Germany on Wednesday.
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