An organized defense and Cameroon’s lack of communication on crossed balls paved the way for a 1-0 Japan victory on Monday.
The loan goal came by way of Keisuke Honda, who slotted the ball between goalkeeper Souleymanou Hamidou and the near post in the 39th minute to give his side their first World Cup victory outside of Japan.
The first 35 minutes were relatively quiet, with no attacks of note by either team.
Japan maintained a very organized defensive and midfield lines, which allowed them to effectively tame the Indomitable Lions’ offense. On the other end, Cameroon’s rear guard looked shaky on crossed balls, due largely to a lack of communication and chemistry between center backs Sébastien Bassong and Nicolas N’Koulou.
The first shot of the match didn’t come until the 38th minute, when Cameroonian left back Benoit Assou-Ekotto led a breakaway down the left flank. Although his run was cut-off by Japan’s defense, the throw in that resulted led to Eyong Enoh’s powerful low shot, which Japanese goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima easily trapped.
Japan attacked right back and, only a minute later, Honda scored to give the Blue Samurai the lead. The play originated on the right side, as Daisuke Matsui sailed a cross over Cameroon’s center backs and onto the feet of Honda, who slammed the ball past Souleymanou for his first goal in the World Cup.
Forced to come out looking for the equalizer in the second half, Cameroon pushed their lines forward. Just four minutes after the restart, Cameroon put together their best attacking play of the evening as Samuel Eto’o, who played wide-right on the attack, dribbled past three defenders and passed to Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. The striker then wasted a good chance by curling the ball wide of the target.
For much of the complementary period, the match was just as uneventful as the first 45 minutes had been. Japan was happy to sit back and counter. They tightened up their lines, closing spaces and stifling a desperate Cameroon who attempted to avoid suffering their first loss in a World Cup opener.
Just four minutes away from the full-time whistle, Cameroon midfielder Stéphane Mbia came up with the ball about 28 yards from the goal. He unleashed a right-footed blast that zoomed past a diving Kawashima and sailed straight onto the crossbar.
With the victory, Japan extended their unbeaten streak against Cameroon to four games. The three points garnered moved the Samurai Blue up to second place in Group E, behind Netherlands. The two sides will meet on Saturday, June 19, at 7 am ET to establish sole leadership of the group.
Cameroon will face off against Denmark on Saturday, June 19, at 2 pm ET.
Scoring summary:
JPN – Honda, 39’
Lineups:
Japan – Kawashima; Nagatomo, Tanaka, Nakazawa, Komano; Endo, Hasebe (Inamoto, 88’), Abe, Matsui (Okazai, 69’); Okubo (Yano, 82’), Honda
Cameroon – Hamidou; Assou-Ekotto, Bassong, N’Koulou, Matip (Emana, 63’); Enoh, Mbia, Makoun; Choupo-Moting (Idrissou, 75’), Webó, Eto’o
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