Analysis-Soccer-Agony in Qatar again as Samurai Blue fail to find World Cup nerve

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AL WAKKRAH, Qatar (Reuters) - For a team that beat Germany and Spain in the group stages, Japan's three horrendous misses in Monday's penalty shootout defeat by Croatia underline how the Samurai Blue still lack the nerve to make a deep World Cup run.

Japan oozed confidence against 2018 runners-up Croatia, relentless in attack and steadfast in defence in a tense match. But they crumbled when it mattered most, failing in their attempt to reach the quarter-finals for the fourth time in two decades.

It also demonstrates how after seven successive World Cups and four appearances in the last 16, the giants of Asian football still lack what it takes to go the distance. On Monday in Al Wakrah, Japan looked like a team worthy of a place in the quarter-finals, hitting Croatia from the start with resolute defending and incisive runs down the flanks that created myriad chances as they went ahead before halftime and battled hard to get back ahead with the score levelled at 1-1.

 

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