Asian powerhouses Japan fight back to claim a well deserved 2-2 draw against the Netherlands while former champions Germany crush newcomers Curacao 7-1 in their opening matches at the FIFA World Cup football championships.
Japan scored an 88th-minute equaliser as they twice fought back to rescue a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands in front of 69,285 fans in Texas.
Netherlands skipper Virgil van Dijk scored with a fine header, only for Keito Nakamura to quickly level, before winger Crysencio Summerville’s delicious curled finish into the bottom corner just after the hour.
The Dutch looked like they would hold on, but Japan levelled at the death with Crystal Palace midfielder Daichi Kamada credited with the goal after a deflection
Japan and the Netherlands are in North America missing key players through injury, but on paper this was still one of the more attractive fixtures in the group stage.
Both have been touted as dark horses capable of going far at the tournament – the Dutch have been runners-up three times whereas Japan have never gone beyond the last 16.
The Netherlands made a confident start and nearly took the lead after three minutes, Donyell Malen allowed to swivel inside the box and forcing a smart save from Zion Suzuki.
The impressive air-conditioned arena is usually home to the Dallas Cowboys, and at the hydration break the NFL team’s cheerleaders were shown on the massive screen hanging over the pitch performing one of their routines.
The stoppage seemed to help Ronald Koeman’s side and Roma forward Malen again worked Suzuki with a header from a corner, then Cody Gakpo fired wildly over the bar.
Japan’s fans, who had hardly stopped singing and outnumbered the Dutch contingent, were briefly silenced.
The first real chance for Hajime Moriyasu’s team came a few minutes before the break when a cross evaded the backtracking Summerville but Nakamura pulled his low effort wide.
The Dutch had looked most threatening in the air, so it was no surprise when Liverpool talisman Van Dijk rose to plant a well-placed header into the bottom corner after a pinpoint cross from club team-mate Ryan Gravenberch on 51 minutes.
The lead lasted just six minutes, Nakamura wriggling free and firing low past goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, the ball taking a small deflection off Jan Paul van Hecke.
In a madcap period of play, the Dutch forged ahead once more on 64 minutes when West Ham’s Summerville beat his man on the right wing and curled into Suzuki’s bottom-right corner with his left foot.
Both teams rang the changes and had chances to score again, before Kamada’s chaotic leveller from a corner.
German eased past debutants
Germany won their first opening match at a FIFA World Cup since lifting the trophy in 2014 as they eased to a 7-1 win against debutants Curacao in their opening Group E match in Houston.
The Germans will face stiffer tests against Ecuador and Ivory Coast but the win against the tiny Caribbean nation puts them in a good position to progress to the knockout stages for the first time since 2014.
An early German goal by Felix Nmecha was cancelled out by a deflected strike from Livano Comenencia which had the Curacao fans, known as the Blue Wave, out of their seats in Houston.
However, Nico Schlotterbeck, Kai Havertz with a double, Jamal Musiala, Nathaniel Brown and Deniz Undav scored to put to bed any possibility of one of the greatest upsets in FIFA World Cup history.
Germany settled early, Nmecha scoring a beauty in the sixth minute, receiving the ball from Florian Wirtz and curling the ball round a Curacao defender and past goalkeeper Eloy Room.
The goal had coach Julian Nagelsmann letting out a huge roar.
Nmecha, who like Musiala played for England at junior level before choosing Germany, went close minutes later with a rasping effort from outside the box.
Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who at 40 is the oldest German player ever to appear at a FIFA World Cup and is playing in his fifth global tournament, had had little to do until Comenencia struck with a shot which took a deflection.
While Germany’s senior citizen shook his head ruefully, the oldest coach to ever appear at the finals, 78-year-old Dick Advocaat, was up out of his seat arms raised.
The drinks break allowed the Germans to regroup.
Soon after the restart Schlotterbeck’s header was brilliantly turned over the bar by Room.
The four-time world champions huffed and puffed round the Curacao goal, but time and again desperate defending frustrated their Germans.
However, the Curacao defence cracked in the 38th minute when an unmarked Schlotterbeck headed home from a corner for his first goal for his country.
The Germans went into the break with a two-goal advantage as Havertz stroked home a penalty after Nmecha had been brought down by Riechedly Bazoer.
Germany struck 69 seconds into the second half, Musiala running on to Joshua Kimmich’s pass and scoring from a tight angle.
It should have been 5-1 just after the hour mark but Leroy Sane sent his effort wide with only Room to beat.
Where Sane came up short Brown did not as the full-back fired home just before the second hydration break.
Substitute Undav made it six with his seventh goal in his last seven international appearances.
Havertz rounded it off with his 24th goal for Germany to replicate the same scoreline as they famously recorded against hosts Brazil in the 2014 semi-finals.
