First off, have we realized that in every single World Cup, when knockout stages start, especially from quarter finals onwards, the competition is more of a hybrid of Copa America and Euro, except for the occasional anomalies in which teams from Africa and/or Asia are able to go through to the quarter finals. Thus, in the long run the World Cup is more of an Intercontinental Cup rather than a World Cup. It is a World Cup only in the Group Stage, that's all there is to it as far as living up to the name of the competition is concerned. Besides, from the first World Cup in 1930, the winner of the competition has either been from South America or Europe. Last night, Japan had the chance to at least try to break that tradition, joining Ghana in the quarter finals, and to keep the “World Cup” feeling alive as the quarters would have been represented by 4 continents. They also had the hopes of the whole of Asia since they were the only one remaining in the competition after South Korea had been knocked out by Uruguay. They, along with Paraguay for this one, were also trying to get into the quarter finals for the very first time in their history.
Prior to the match, everyone kept on calling Keisuke Honda as Japan's best player, the hope for Japan, no player in Japan is of more important than him. Actually, I have been arguing ever since their 1-0 victory against Cameroon that the real hero, or heroes I should say is Japan's backline, to be precise the three pillars of Tulio, Yuki Abe, and Nakazawa. For Tulio, the Brazilian born defender was actually Japan's best player throughout Japan's stint in this World Cup overall as he excels both up front as well as at the back. He has always been Japan's greatest attacking threat when he roams forward, and especially in this match against Paraguay in which he always galloped forward whenever he has a chance. In other words, he played as a libero, a position long gone since the glory days of Franz Beckenbauer in 1970s. When he's at the back, he's ever so sturdy, thwarting everything that the oppoennts threw at him alongside his partners Yuki Abe and Nakazawa throughout the match. Without them, Japan would not even dreamed of getting this far in the tournament and also for last night's match, they might not even had the chance to have the penalty shoot-out. As for Honda, he was too isolated up front with little support. Whenever he has the ball, he had to hold the ball up long enough for the rest of Japanese players to go up and support him properly. With his relatively small frame as well as Paraguay's style of always closing down swiftly, he had no luxury nor time to wait for his team mates to arrive up front and support him.
Japan was also very fortunate in the 67th minute when Tulio, my choice of Japan's best player in the tournament, collided violently with his own goalkeeper. The stretcher was brought on the pitch, but fortunately for Japan, he was able to continue on to play the rest of the game. It was a crucial moment for Japan, had he stretchered off and replaced by someone else, Japan's backline would become fragile and their notable attacking threat at the other end would be nullified with his departure from the field. Despite trying their very best to score, Paraguay were not able to, and despite their attacks being improved considerably when the livewire Nelson Haedo Valdez joined the fray, they still weren't able to break the solid and resolute Japanese defense. Another player of note from Japan would be Daisuke Matsui, a player who came close n this match of scoring a scorcher from distance, but hit the bar. He always gives 110% for his country in each match, always seen chasing for every ball just like Argentina's Carlos Tevez. His commitment and work rate can be seen when he's substituted, his hair is always a mess at that time, I am pretty sure he covers quite a distance throughout his involvement in a match.
Since both teams were not able to break one another down as it seemed that both teams were so resolute as not to let go of a chance to make history by going to the quarter finals for the very first time, and thus, the scoreline was still tied at 0-0 even after two halves of extra time. The match inevitably went into the nerve-wracking penalty shoot out.
In the dramatic penalty shoot out, Paraguay managed to score all 5 of their kicks while Japan missed their third penalty kick by Yunichi Komano. I had a feeling that when he stepped up he might miss and he indeed hit the bar, although to be fair to him, he had beaten the goalkeeper. It is true that usually, managers would assign their best penalty takers for the last kick, but I don't think it is a good idea to do that as evident in last night's match as when Komano missed, and Paraguay managed to score all 5 of their kicks, the last kicker, (presumably Tamada) did not get a chance to take a penalty. In my opinion, had Honda and Tamada were the 4th and 5th kickers respectively, Japan might have stayed at least a bit longer, but this is certainly not the time to as what if questions. As cruel as it might be, this is the knockout stages, and one of the two opposing teams have to get out no matter how evenly matched they are throughout the 120 minutes. When there's a winner, there has to be a loser, and Japan was unfortunate enough to hold the latter mantle.
Congratulations to Paraguay for clinching a date with Spain in the quarter finals, time to celebrate their historic achievements, and juts like the commentator said, even if Spain awaits them in quarter finals, they don't really care, for now they want to celebrate their first ever qualification to the quarter finals of the World Cup. As for Japan, despite the defeat, they really showed up in this tournament, and they really fight till the end. Even though the heart-wrenching sight of the Japanese players, especially the inconsolable Komano at the end, Japan will rise up again just like the rising sun and try to beat the big boys again, starting with the 2011 Asian Cup! Ganbatte Nippon!
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