Group F: Japan 0, Croatia 0 So, the country that gave the world game shows in which contestants are subjected to prolonged suffering produce a display at this World Cup well worthy of the genre. Unfortunately for Zico's men, it was not enough to give them victory over a technically better Croatian side and it seems unlikely to prevent their early exit from the competition.
For the way they dug to the very bottom of their reserves late on in dogged pursuit of a goal, few neutrals would have begrudged Japan the win. When the game finally ended, their exhausted players slumped to the ground, and there they stayed as the stadium emptied around them.
As news came through that the Togo team, embroiled in a pay dispute, had to be talked onto their bus for Dortmund ahead of tonight's game against Switzerland, it seemed some of Zico's men might have be carried on to theirs for the trip back to their hotel.
The reason they had pushed themselves to the brink of collapse wasn't hard to fathom. With Brazil to come next Thursday, the Japanese badly needed to win this draining duel in the mid-afternoon sun.
Croatia, though, harbour ambitions of their own and looked dismayed at having failed to triumph in what was probably their most winnable game.
Japan's Brazilian coach subsequently described the time of the game (his side's second consecutive early start) as "a crime", observing: "It affects the whole spectacle to have World Cup games kicking off at this time, but of course, business is business."
After the way Japan had wilted late in their defeat by Australia, the Croats must have felt they would be rewarded if only they could keep going. And during the last five minutes or so the two sides went at each like shattered prizefighters, incapable of landing a punch but still swinging wildly and determined to stay on their feet until the final bell.
The obvious hunger did much to make this an appealing contest but the shortcomings of both sides were plain to see.
Japan moved the ball from back to front at considerable speed only to repeatedly run out of ideas when faced with the last line of defence. Croatia simply couldn't put away any of the steady stream of chances they created over 90 fast and furious minutes.
Predictably, we saw much more of the Croats' attacking game than in Berlin, where their ambitions had not stretched far beyond containment against Brazil.
The men for the job remained the same but this time Niko Kranjcar exerted far more influence on things from an attacking central midfield position, while Ivan Klasnic and Dada Prso looked a threat around the Japanese area. All three forced decent saves from Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi before the break. But the goalkeeper's finest moment came midway through the opening period when the Belgian referee awarded a penalty for Tsuneyasu Miyamoto's challenge on Prso and Kawaguchi got down low to his left to push Darijo Srna's spot-kick around his post.
Japan's best chance was squandered six minutes after the interval when a neat move involving Akira Kaji and Naohiro Takahara ended with Atsushi Yanagisawa firing wide of an open goal from less than 10 metres.
Kaji and his fellow back Alessandro "Alex" Santos proved their side's most consistent attacking threats, showing admirable willingness to take on opponents.
All around them, though, team-mates tended to retain possession too long as they weighed up options on the edge of the area, which repeatedly resulted in possession being lost.
Hidetoshi Nakata was named man of the match for his contribution in the centre of midfield. His long-range shots forced Stipe Pletikosa into a couple of saves but none looked remotely likely to beat the goalkeeper. The one time, meanwhile, that Kawaguchi looked to be in real trouble, Klasnic's looping shot rebounded off the bar.
Notwithstanding that and a couple of other strikes from distance, Zlatko Krancjar's side looked more likely to score from close range, for the Japanese were uncertain when defending corners and free-kicks.
Prso, though, managed no more than a couple of fluffed half chances while Klasnic failed to react quickly enough when Nico Kovac flicked on Srna's corner.
"It was a good performance in every way except that we did not score any goals," observed the Croat coach.
"We will not change anything, we can't," he added. "What you saw this afternoon is the game we have played through the qualifying campaign and in our opening two games here. You can't change now, you simply have hope that we take the chances we create."
SUBSTITUTIONS
JAPAN: Inamoto for Fukunishi (46 mins), Tamada for Yanagisawa (61 mins), Oguro for Takahara (85 mins). Subs not used: Narazaki, Moniwa, Komano, Endo, Koji Nakata, Maki, Doi, Ono, Tsuboi. Booked: Miyamoto, Kawaguchi, Santos.
CROATIA: Olic for Tudor (70 mins), Modric for Kranjcar (78 mins), Bosnjak for Srna (86 mins). Subs not used: Balaban, Butina, Didulica, Ivan Leko, Jerko Leko, Seric, Tokic, Tomas, Vranjes. Booked: Robert Kovac, Srna.
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium).
