Costa Rica picked themselves up off the floor to beat a Japan side who missed their chance to book early qualification for the knockout rounds.
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Ticos scored with first attempt on goal
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Result puts Costa Rica level on three points with Japan and Spain, ahead of the day’s Spain v Germany game
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Group E concludes on Wednesday with Japan v Spain and Costa Rica v Germany
Match review
Costa Rica picked themselves up off the floor to snatch a late victory over Japan at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Sunday’s opening fixture.Humiliated 7-0 by Spain in their first match, Luis Fernando Suarez’s side showed impressive character to bounce back and snatch the three points through a goal in the 81st minute by Fuller. The old saying about football being a rollercoaster applies just as equally to Japan who missed the opportunity to book their place in the last 16 as they fell to earth with a bang after their opening win against Germany.
The game lacked a spark in a subdued first half but Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu responded by sending on Takuma Asano and Hiroki Ito in place of Yuto Nagatomo and Ayase Ueda and his side stepped up a gear straight away. They had three attempts inside five minutes after the restart, notably a strike from Hidemasa Morita which Keylor Navas palmed away.
As for Costa Rica, their attacking threat was limited. They had no shot on target in their first game against Spain and here had to wait until the 81st minute when Fuller struck. Japan failed to clear their lines and he profited by beating the goalkeeper with a lob from just inside the box.
The closest Japan came to an equaliser was in the 88th minute when Morita cut the ball back for Daichi Kamada whose low shot was blocked by Navas, with Costa Rica surviving the goalmouth scramble that followed.
Key moment
In a match low on goalmouth incident, it has to be the only goal. Fuller saw Shuichi Gonda slightly off his line and profited with a lobbed shot which the Japan goalkeeper got a hand to but failed to stop falling into the net behind him.State of the Match
1– Costa Rica’s goal came from their first shot on target of the tournament