Fans troll Japan players for ‘soft’ penalty kicks against Croatia in FIFA World Cup 2022

After Japan went out of the FIFA World Cup 2022 following their defeat to Croatia in the Round of 16 in penalty shootouts, football fans criticised Japan players for taking ‘soft’ penalty kicks. Three of Japan’s shots from the spot were saved by the Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic and a lack of punch in them was evident. 

For Croatia, the win on Monday at Al Janoub Stadium means that they will advance to the quarter-finals and face either Brazil or Korea Republic, depending on who wins the Round of 16 clash. 

Also read: Who is Dominik Livakovic, former state secretary and Croatia’s goalkeeper?

Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma, and Maya Yoshida’s penalties were all saved by Livakovic. His valiant effort was lauded by fans of Croatia who are used to seeing him play regularly for the Prva HNL club Dinamo Zagreb, in Croatia’s top division. 

However, the penalty misses by Japan drew a lot of irks from those who were rooting for the Asian team to progress beyond Round of 16 in the FIFA World Cup. If they had done it, it would have been their best-ever run in a World Cup. 

“Penalty kicks are unfair but you still have to question Japan’s ‘softly kick the ball on the ground’ approach,” one fan wrote on Twitter. 

Another fan was almost convinced that it was the worst penalty shootout ever seen in a FIFA World Cup. All because Japan’s kicks lacked the punch to beat the goalie. 

Another fan remarked that Japan had not practised taking penalty kicks before the match in training. He was also convinced that it was the worst penalty shootout ever seen in a World Cup.

Also read: Why Japan football team is called ‘Samurai Blue’

Recalling the USMNT’s bad performance in corner kicks during their Round of 16 match against the Netherlands, a journalist said that Japan’s penalty coach should join USMNT’s corner coach in the ‘unemployment line’.

Even though Japan lost the match, and in spite of the bad penalty kicks, they will still go out of the tournament with their head held high. Apart from defeating giants like Spain and Germany, they had topped their group. The match with Croatia was also hard fought and remained a draw till the end of extra time. 

Those following football in the East Asian nation would see how far the game has come in recent years and will be confident that Japan will be up for big things next time around.