Japan booed as it advances on yellow cards
Japan booed as it advances on yellow cards
Nice guys don't necessarily finish last at the World Cup. Fair play, a newly implemented tiebreaker in the group stage of the world's biggest soccer tournament, was put into use for the first time Thursday and Japan came out as the beneficiary. Despite losing 1-0 to Poland, the Japanese were able to advance to the round of 16 because they received fewer yellow cards than Senegal, which lost to Colombia by the same score at the same time.
Once Colombia had scored in Samara, Japan knew it had done enough to advance even though it was losing late in its match. The Japanese players slowed play down to almost nothing, softly passing the ball back and forth in little triangles in their own end to waste time. "My decision was to rely on the other match," Japan coach Akira Nishino said. "I'm not too happy about this but ... I forced my players to do what I said. And we went through.
"It was an ultimate decision for me to make. We did not go through with victory, but we just relied on the other match and I feel that it was slightly regrettable but I suppose at that point I didn't have any other plans." The fans at the Volgograd Arena showed their displeasure by booing and whistling loudly over the final minutes. Poland, happy to get a victory after two losses, did little to pressure the opposing side. Both Japan and Senegal finished the group phase with four points, had the same goal difference and the same amount of goals scored. They also played to a 2-2 draw on Sunday. Starting at this year's tournament, disciplinary records — known as fair play — were added by FIFA as a tiebreaker. Japan had four yellow cards in its three group matches while Senegal had six.
Overall, Japan committed only 28 fouls in three group matches, among the fewest in the tournament. Senegal committed 44 fouls. Japan will play Belgium in the knockout phase on Monday, while Colombia faces England on Tuesday. Poland, which had already been eliminated, got its goal from defender Jan Bednarek in the 59th minute. He beat his marker at the far post and volleyed in a swerving free kick from Rafal Kurzawa. When Bednarek scored, Japan was facing elimination. However, Colombia's goal in the 74th minute of the other group match meant Japan was in second place and would advance.
As the game continued, it barely got above walking pace. "It was for us more important for us to get into the next round than to win the match," Japan midfielder Gotoku Sakai said.
Nishino made six changes to the starting lineup ahead of the match, saying some of his players were fatigued. All four of Japan's scorers in the previous two games were left on the bench, but the Japanese still had more of the chances in the first half. Poland had an early chance to take the lead in the 32nd minute when Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima stopped a header from Kamil Grosicki. Scampering across his goal before diving, Kawashima clawed the ball to safety just before it had crossed the line. Robert Lewandowski then had a chance to put Poland ahead 2-0 — a result that would have allowed Senegal to advance — in the 74th minute after a swift counterattack but his effort flew over the bar.
Fans relieved Japan advances but tactics disappoint some
Soccer fans in Japan burst into celebration after their team advanced to the World Cup knockout round despite a 1-0 loss to Poland, exchanging high-fives and hugs in relief that they had squeezed through. In Tokyo's trendy Shibuya, elated supporters streamed out of sports bars after the final whistle at around 1 a.m. local time, the sound of horns and "Nippon" chants filling the streets as they converged upon the district's iconic pedestrian scramble. "I'm so relieved. I knew it was going to be a tough game," said 20-year-old student Kousuke Takahashi, adding that the loss didn't take any shine off their overall World Cup performance. "I never thought we'd make it out of the group stage so I'm happy with the result."
Before the tournament Japan had been given little chance of surviving the group stage but a shock win over Colombia and a draw with Senegal put them on track for their third trip to the World Cup's last 16. "Congratulations on advancing to the knockout stage!" Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a tweet. "You can do it in the next one too, Japan!" Still, the way Japan advanced left a bad taste in the mouth of some supporters, who felt the team had abandoned their Samurai Blue spirit of playing hard until the end no matter what.
With Colombia beating Senegal 1-0, Japan knew they would qualify second in their group on the strength of having fewer yellow cards than Senegal and so were content to play the final several minutes passing around the ball to run down the clock. "I was so excited before the game. They needed a draw but I really wanted them to win. So I'm embarrassed by the way they were happy to just accept the loss," said Makiko Totsuka, a 30-year-old musician who watched with her friends in a bar. "Japan's style of play in the second half was a little disappointing," said 22-year-old student Takeaki Sudo, who watched the game at home with his family. "I thought they'd play their Japan style of soccer and get a win."
World Cup fans rev up revenues for sanctions-hobbled Russia
Moscow's beer kegs are emptying fast and demand for Vladimir Putin T-shirts is overwhelming St. Petersburg street vendors as the World Cup sends business surging across the 11 Russian cities hosting soccer's biggest show. The Russian president was counting on just such a boost after U.S. and European sanctions and low oil prices sank the country into recession, and after Russia's government spent 800 billion rubles ($12.7 billion) to ready for the World Cup. But experts warn the boon won't last long without deeper change to the oil-reliant, corruption-tainted Russian economy.
Here's a look at some businesses booming thanks to the World Cup:
RED SQUARE REVELRY
Among the big winners: freelance taxi drivers, dating apps and bars where fans gather to watch matches or celebrate their teams' victory. "We are so far off the chart on this, we order as much beer in one night as we would order in a month," said Doug Steele, owner of Papa's Bar & Grill on Nikolskaya Street just off Red Square. He dragged a keg on a dolly as he talked, too busy to stop. This neighborhood has become the place to party since the World Cup opened June 14. The block-long GUM shopping mall that faces the Kremlin has seen traffic climb 80 percent compared to the same period last year, according to its manager, Teymuraz Guguberidze. "The effect is much higher than our expectation," he said. "It makes us very happy."
PROUD PROVINCES
The lift has reached retailers far beyond the Russian capital, helping other host cities far off the tourist path. The lowest-profile of the bunch, Saransk, spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build a stadium, high-rises and transport to accommodate tens of thousands of visitors who descended in recent weeks. Proud residents rented out their apartments and kept businesses open extra late to host fans after night games. High demand at restaurants so frequently caused shortages that patrons had to make a list of menu items they liked before ordering. Mexican fans revved up business in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, overwhelming vendors at a sports store as they bought up any available souvenirs. Sales of Kazan's chak-chak dessert , Rostov's local cakes and Russian pelmeni dumplings everywhere have soared. So have visits to lesser-known monuments and cultural sites — a World War II museum in Volgograd, a Cossack village in Rostov, a museum dedicated to the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad and its most famous resident, philosopher Immanuel Kant .
SUMMER PLEASURES
So much for Russia's chilly reputation. Sunny days, white nights and sometimes sweltering temperatures greeted the world's soccer fans in Russia this month — and no city has benefited more than the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Long popular with Russians, Sochi finally got a long-awaited spike in foreign visitors this summer as fans from Brazil, Australia and beyond are packing onto its shoreline cafes or visiting its amusement parks. In St. Petersburg's northern latitudes, the summer season means that night never really falls, and savvy boat owners are cashing in by taking tourists through the city's canals all night long.
REALITY CHECK
Russia is hoping for an enduring economic boost, well beyond the World Cup final July 15. But first it has to recoup the costs of preparing for the event — and the prime minister announced this week that the government must spend an additional 800 million rubles ($12.7 million) going forward to maintain World Cup-related sites after the crowds go home. While it's too early to estimate the overall economic gains from the event, the government should at least break even, predicts Vladimir Ageyev, Moscow State University sports management expert, citing preliminary data estimating the "World Cup effect" at 800 billion rubles ($12.7 billion). Moody's ratings agency warned just before the tournament opened that despite the boost in tourism industry revenues, the World Cup would only make a "short-lived" contribution to the economy. Most host regions are unlikely to keep drawing tourists afterward, Moody's warned, because they are too hard to reach, too cold and must compete with more attractive destinations elsewhere. Yet the tournament is bringing intangible advantages that business leaders hope leave a lasting mark. "The World Cup has a very good influence," said Guguberidze of Moscow shopping mecca GUM. "It creates a good mood, and leaves a good impression of Russia."
Nice guys don't necessarily finish last at the World Cup. Fair play, a newly implemented tiebreaker in the group stage of the world's biggest soccer tournament, was put into use for the first time Thursday and Japan came out as the beneficiary. Despite losing 1-0 to Poland, the Japanese were able to advance to the round of 16 because they received fewer yellow cards than Senegal, which lost to Colombia by the same score at the same time.
Once Colombia had scored in Samara, Japan knew it had done enough to advance even though it was losing late in its match. The Japanese players slowed play down to almost nothing, softly passing the ball back and forth in little triangles in their own end to waste time. "My decision was to rely on the other match," Japan coach Akira Nishino said. "I'm not too happy about this but ... I forced my players to do what I said. And we went through.
"It was an ultimate decision for me to make. We did not go through with victory, but we just relied on the other match and I feel that it was slightly regrettable but I suppose at that point I didn't have any other plans." The fans at the Volgograd Arena showed their displeasure by booing and whistling loudly over the final minutes. Poland, happy to get a victory after two losses, did little to pressure the opposing side. Both Japan and Senegal finished the group phase with four points, had the same goal difference and the same amount of goals scored. They also played to a 2-2 draw on Sunday. Starting at this year's tournament, disciplinary records — known as fair play — were added by FIFA as a tiebreaker. Japan had four yellow cards in its three group matches while Senegal had six.
Overall, Japan committed only 28 fouls in three group matches, among the fewest in the tournament. Senegal committed 44 fouls. Japan will play Belgium in the knockout phase on Monday, while Colombia faces England on Tuesday. Poland, which had already been eliminated, got its goal from defender Jan Bednarek in the 59th minute. He beat his marker at the far post and volleyed in a swerving free kick from Rafal Kurzawa. When Bednarek scored, Japan was facing elimination. However, Colombia's goal in the 74th minute of the other group match meant Japan was in second place and would advance.
As the game continued, it barely got above walking pace. "It was for us more important for us to get into the next round than to win the match," Japan midfielder Gotoku Sakai said.
Nishino made six changes to the starting lineup ahead of the match, saying some of his players were fatigued. All four of Japan's scorers in the previous two games were left on the bench, but the Japanese still had more of the chances in the first half. Poland had an early chance to take the lead in the 32nd minute when Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima stopped a header from Kamil Grosicki. Scampering across his goal before diving, Kawashima clawed the ball to safety just before it had crossed the line. Robert Lewandowski then had a chance to put Poland ahead 2-0 — a result that would have allowed Senegal to advance — in the 74th minute after a swift counterattack but his effort flew over the bar.
Fans relieved Japan advances but tactics disappoint some
Soccer fans in Japan burst into celebration after their team advanced to the World Cup knockout round despite a 1-0 loss to Poland, exchanging high-fives and hugs in relief that they had squeezed through. In Tokyo's trendy Shibuya, elated supporters streamed out of sports bars after the final whistle at around 1 a.m. local time, the sound of horns and "Nippon" chants filling the streets as they converged upon the district's iconic pedestrian scramble. "I'm so relieved. I knew it was going to be a tough game," said 20-year-old student Kousuke Takahashi, adding that the loss didn't take any shine off their overall World Cup performance. "I never thought we'd make it out of the group stage so I'm happy with the result."
Before the tournament Japan had been given little chance of surviving the group stage but a shock win over Colombia and a draw with Senegal put them on track for their third trip to the World Cup's last 16. "Congratulations on advancing to the knockout stage!" Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a tweet. "You can do it in the next one too, Japan!" Still, the way Japan advanced left a bad taste in the mouth of some supporters, who felt the team had abandoned their Samurai Blue spirit of playing hard until the end no matter what.
With Colombia beating Senegal 1-0, Japan knew they would qualify second in their group on the strength of having fewer yellow cards than Senegal and so were content to play the final several minutes passing around the ball to run down the clock. "I was so excited before the game. They needed a draw but I really wanted them to win. So I'm embarrassed by the way they were happy to just accept the loss," said Makiko Totsuka, a 30-year-old musician who watched with her friends in a bar. "Japan's style of play in the second half was a little disappointing," said 22-year-old student Takeaki Sudo, who watched the game at home with his family. "I thought they'd play their Japan style of soccer and get a win."
World Cup fans rev up revenues for sanctions-hobbled Russia
Moscow's beer kegs are emptying fast and demand for Vladimir Putin T-shirts is overwhelming St. Petersburg street vendors as the World Cup sends business surging across the 11 Russian cities hosting soccer's biggest show. The Russian president was counting on just such a boost after U.S. and European sanctions and low oil prices sank the country into recession, and after Russia's government spent 800 billion rubles ($12.7 billion) to ready for the World Cup. But experts warn the boon won't last long without deeper change to the oil-reliant, corruption-tainted Russian economy.
Here's a look at some businesses booming thanks to the World Cup:
RED SQUARE REVELRY
Among the big winners: freelance taxi drivers, dating apps and bars where fans gather to watch matches or celebrate their teams' victory. "We are so far off the chart on this, we order as much beer in one night as we would order in a month," said Doug Steele, owner of Papa's Bar & Grill on Nikolskaya Street just off Red Square. He dragged a keg on a dolly as he talked, too busy to stop. This neighborhood has become the place to party since the World Cup opened June 14. The block-long GUM shopping mall that faces the Kremlin has seen traffic climb 80 percent compared to the same period last year, according to its manager, Teymuraz Guguberidze. "The effect is much higher than our expectation," he said. "It makes us very happy."
PROUD PROVINCES
The lift has reached retailers far beyond the Russian capital, helping other host cities far off the tourist path. The lowest-profile of the bunch, Saransk, spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build a stadium, high-rises and transport to accommodate tens of thousands of visitors who descended in recent weeks. Proud residents rented out their apartments and kept businesses open extra late to host fans after night games. High demand at restaurants so frequently caused shortages that patrons had to make a list of menu items they liked before ordering. Mexican fans revved up business in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, overwhelming vendors at a sports store as they bought up any available souvenirs. Sales of Kazan's chak-chak dessert , Rostov's local cakes and Russian pelmeni dumplings everywhere have soared. So have visits to lesser-known monuments and cultural sites — a World War II museum in Volgograd, a Cossack village in Rostov, a museum dedicated to the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad and its most famous resident, philosopher Immanuel Kant .
SUMMER PLEASURES
So much for Russia's chilly reputation. Sunny days, white nights and sometimes sweltering temperatures greeted the world's soccer fans in Russia this month — and no city has benefited more than the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Long popular with Russians, Sochi finally got a long-awaited spike in foreign visitors this summer as fans from Brazil, Australia and beyond are packing onto its shoreline cafes or visiting its amusement parks. In St. Petersburg's northern latitudes, the summer season means that night never really falls, and savvy boat owners are cashing in by taking tourists through the city's canals all night long.
REALITY CHECK
Russia is hoping for an enduring economic boost, well beyond the World Cup final July 15. But first it has to recoup the costs of preparing for the event — and the prime minister announced this week that the government must spend an additional 800 million rubles ($12.7 million) going forward to maintain World Cup-related sites after the crowds go home. While it's too early to estimate the overall economic gains from the event, the government should at least break even, predicts Vladimir Ageyev, Moscow State University sports management expert, citing preliminary data estimating the "World Cup effect" at 800 billion rubles ($12.7 billion). Moody's ratings agency warned just before the tournament opened that despite the boost in tourism industry revenues, the World Cup would only make a "short-lived" contribution to the economy. Most host regions are unlikely to keep drawing tourists afterward, Moody's warned, because they are too hard to reach, too cold and must compete with more attractive destinations elsewhere. Yet the tournament is bringing intangible advantages that business leaders hope leave a lasting mark. "The World Cup has a very good influence," said Guguberidze of Moscow shopping mecca GUM. "It creates a good mood, and leaves a good impression of Russia."
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