Why Japan can walk away proud after Brazil loss
Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros of The Cooligans break down Brazil’s second-half tactical changes and Japan’s effort in a hard-fought Round of 32 matchup at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Check out the full conversation on the “The Cooligans” podcast – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
But for me, Japan, I think, walks away with their heads high, man.
They defended absolutely crazy.
And I said, and w- and we even said this at the halftime, you know, you can only do that for so many minutes.
After the 70th minute, you’re gassed, and we saw those moments where Japan couldn’t press as hard as they wanted to.
J- but Japan couldn’t get in those spots.
But to go ahead early, I mean, absolutely incredible.
Was it Sanzo?
the, who scored the first goal?
Yeah, who scored the first goal?
Sano, Sano.
Sano.
the, so, in, I, I, I would say who gets, who probably should get, some praise and criticism, Carlo An- Ancelotti.
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He made the completely right decision in change, in bringing in, Endrick in the second- Taking out Paquet taking out Paquet.
Um- So Paquet’s role, if you were watching, was to step deep into the midfield and sort of kind of play a bit of a regista role, but, like, shuttle the ball forward.
And what was happening is he was pulling them out of the attack, and Japan were sitting with five at the back.
So you needed an additional attack.
To bring in someone equally as creative as, as Vini Jr., probably not on the same level, right, ’cause he’s much younger, but someone who’s also creative and wants to be flashy on the ball, and wants to drive at defenders, was sending Japan defenders into fits.
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Tomiyasu was in the wrong position.
Well- He was getting nutmegged.
It was crazy the, the, the pressure, on Japan changed j- drastically as soon as the, the, the whistle in the second half blew.
e- Endrick, I mean, the, and this was what, this was the flaw for, Brazil in the first half.
They, they tried to win the game on the ground.
And in the second half, they were j- literally like, “All right.
We’re bigger than some of these Japanese dudes.”
Yeah.
“Let’s just throw the ball in the air, and, and we’ll, we’ll take our chances there.”
What happens?
Ca- Casemiro scores the, scores the goal.
and, and just the, immense amount of pressure late in that second half, like, Japan giving the ball away- Mm-hmm and, and, and obviously everybody’s trying to readjust and focus, and they’re not paying attention to Martinelli