In one of the most followed matches of World Cup round of 32, Brazil came from behind to eliminate Japan in injury time. Japan head coach, Hajime Moriyasu, admitted that, after Casemiro scored the equalising goal, he was planning to prepare substitutions for injury time, hoping it would get to that, but Martinelli avoided that in the 96th minute. After the match, Moriyasu took full responsibility for the mistake, and betting it all to a plan that could have worked... but luck wasn't on their side.
"To win the title was our dream and our goal and we couldn't achieve that. As a head coach I told them that I was really sorry that I was not good enough to lead them to that level to achieve that goal." Scenes of Moriyasu publicly apologising to his players in the field went viral:
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Hajime Moriyasu, former footballer, one of the best from Sanfrecce Hiroshima and head coach of Japan since 2018, believes that the gap is closing between Japan and other teams (via ESPN). "The gap between us is closing now. Brazil is a top-tier team and we're definitely approaching that level".
If he doesn't pay for his mistakes during the Brazil match, he is expected to remain in charge, as he is a very respected figure in Japan, who doesn't hesitate to leave out popular players if he doesn't see them fit for the teamwork. "We were not able to achieve our goal this time but then we can aim for the next World Cup or maybe even one after that".