On October 13, 2012 Japan scored a historic win over France with 1-0 victory in an international-friendly football match at Stade de France. Though the match was friendly win over the football powerhouse, this was an avenging victory to the humiliating 5-0 defeat handed to the Japanese by the French in the year 2001. This loss comes ahead of France’s world cup qualifier against Spain next week.
Sports Nippon Daily said, “Kagawa struck the decider! The historic first win over France”. Standard Liege goal keeper, Eiji Kawashima was appreciated for his efforts as he stopped France’s midfield wizard Franck Ribery.
Sport Nippon also mentioned that Japan was overwhelmed and was repeatedly threatened by a taller and quicker French team, but did not allow a single goal. The game was largely controlled by the hosts at the Stade de France but the crowd soon went silent when the Japanese team showed aggression.
Japanese sports papers were full of praise for the Manchester United star Shinji Kagawa for his goal which defeated the French. Japan’s win was the first victory against the 1998 World Champions in six games, after one draw and four defeats. Kagawa said that as a team they were able to score in a quick and wonderful way. The footballer also said that they have to work harder to catch up with the top teams in the world.
