World Cup Now: 3 takeaways from Japan's thrilling upset of Germany
Japan came back from an early deficit to upset Germany 2-1 at the Khalifa International Stadium on Tuesday, yet another stunning result in the 2022 World Cup.
Former United States men's national team players Jimmy Conrad and Sacha Kljestan gave their three takeaways from the thrilling match on "World Cup Now."
1. Conrad: Germany blew its chances
Germany had all of these opportunities to hit the back of the net. I think if it's 2-0, the game is done. The Germans likely lock it up, put everyone behind the ball and see this out with a nice, professional win that allows them to focus on their next game, which is a big one against Spain (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app).
Now, Germany has everything to play for — very similar to Argentina and its second game. If Germany doesn't win that one, it's going to be very, very difficult to get to the knockout rounds
2. Kljestan: Germany needs a striker
Kai Havertz is more of an attacking midfielder or winger, but he plays striker for this German team. This team has missed a striker for a really long time now.
Miroslav Klose was the guy for Germany who you knew you was going to get you five goals at the World Cup. Germany doesn't have a guy like that right now. This team lacked someone with a killer instinct who could have made it 2-0 or more.
3. Kljestan: More upsets could be on the way
I think other teams are going to start to believe even more now. I think a lot of teams come in here and really hope for an upset but when you don't see other teams do it, you start to doubt yourself a little bit. I think this upset, combined with Saudi Arabia stunning Argentina, will give teams confidence.
Will Japan's upset over Germany give more teams confidence in the FIFA World Cup?
I absolutely love, love, love that both of Japan's players who came off the bench to score for Japan — Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano — play for smaller clubs in Germany, and they were able to beat the Germans. That's poetic.
Read more from the World Cup:
- Japan stuns Germany as World Cup underdogs continue to roar
- World Cup Power Rankings: France still looks like the team to beat
- World Cup Daily: Argentina upset flips Group C on its head
- How to watch every game of the 2022 World Cup
- 101 most memorable World Cup moments
- Stu Holden's top 50 players at the World Cup
Watch "FIFA World Cup Today" before and after every match of the tournament on Twitter by following @FoxSoccer.
