On June 19, the city of Natal hosted the next match of the World Cup in Group C. In the second round, the teams of Japan and Greece met. Both teams lost in the World Cup debut in Brazil, so the second round match was very important for each team.
The game began calmly. Neither the Japanese nor the Greeks planned to immediately suppress the opponent. The viewer had such an impression after the first minutes of the match. If there was a coaching goal for a quick ball, then both teams obviously did not succeed in fulfilling it. Compared to other matches of the day, this game was boring. There were few dangerous moments.
The hero of the first half was the referee, who removed the captain of the Greek national team Katsouranis at the end of the 45-minute for two yellow cards. Of the dangerous moments, you can recall Honda's free-kick, but the Greek goalkeeper was there and deflected the ball sent by the Japanese.
The teams left for the break with a zero score, which could not please any team.
In the second half, the Japanese had the advantage in dangerous moments. However, one can single out the Hekas' header on 60 minutes after a corner kick. The Japanese goalkeeper saves the team. Then Asians created acute situations. So, on the 68th minute, Okubo managed not to get into the empty net from a couple of meters after a good pass. It was the best moment of the whole match. A monstrous blunder, and zeros remain on the scoreboard. A little later, at 71 minutes, the Japanese again miss the opportunity to score. Uchida missed the target from a few meters.
The final score of the match was 0 - 0. This result did not suit any team. The Greeks and the Japanese are gaining one point each and have only minimal chances of qualifying from the group.
