Italy

4 vs 3

Japan

Played
June 19, 2013 11:00 PM WAT
Itaipava Arena Pernambuco — Recife, Pernambuco
Referee:‬ D. Abal‎
Attendance:‬ 40489‎

 

41′ Daniele De Rossi

Keisuke Honda 21′ (PG)

50′ (OG) Atsuto Uchida

Shinji Kagawa 33′

52′ (PG) Mario Balotelli

Shinji Okazaki 69′

86′ Sebastian Giovinco

 

 

Player Ratings: Italy 4-3 Japan

Goal rates the players on show as Giovinco fires a late winner in a match that will go down as one of the most memorable in the history of the Confederations Cup

By Martin Langer in the Arena Pernambuco, Recife

6

Comments

Italy

2.57

8

8

• 
  34

  24

  Gianluigi Buffon

  Unfortunate to concede a penalty in the first half, and couldn't do anything for the goals. Made a decent stop from Honda in the second half.
• 
  21

  38

  Giorgio Chiellini

  Struggled mightily with the pace of the Japanese in the first half and looked exhausted in the final minutes.
• 
  17

  45

  Mattia De Sciglio

  His awful back pass led to Japan's opener and looked completely out of his depth since. Prandelli put an end to his misery at the hour mark.
• 
  22

  27

  Andrea Barzagli

  The best of an overwhelmed back line, he made a couple of crucial last-minute challenges that prevented a Japanese victory.
• 
  10

  45

  Christian Maggio

  He struggled during the whole match to contain Kagawa and never looked comfortable until the final whistle.
• 
  11

  62

  Alberto Aquilani Flop of the Match

  Prandelli surprised everyone by selecting him in the starting XI and then understood his mistake after half an hour. Aquilani was just awful.
• 
  69

  27

  Daniele De Rossi Top of the Match

  With Pirlo completely out of his game, it was the Roma man who had to take the match by the scruff of the neck, and duly did so, scoring Italy's first and then created the winner.
• 
  32

  31

  Riccardo Montolivo

  He was one of the few Italian players that seemed comfortable on the ball although he was outmuscled by Okazaki at Japan's third goal.
• 
  34

  46

  Andrea Pirlo

  After having one of his best games against Mexico, he had one of his worst tonight. Sluggish with the ball, slow off it, he looked his age against the fast Japanese midfielders.
• 
  46

  22

  Emanuele Giaccherini

  He was the best attacker for Italy, every time he had the ball he looked dangerous and his never say die attitude generated Japan's second.
• 
  60

  20

  Mario Balotelli

  Was always dangerous thanks to his physical game and excellent positioning, and does what he usually does from the spot, slotting Italy back in front.

Substitutions

• 
  32

  20

  Ignazio Abate

  Replaced De Sciglio but didn't fare much better, was always on his back foot against Kagawa & Co.
• 
  37

  23

  Claudio Marchisio

  Substituted Giaccherini to give his team some stability and was successful at it.
• 
  43

  21

  Sebastian Giovinco

  Scored the winner to cap a very good performance coming off the bench. Italy looked much better with him on the pitch.

Japan

2.95

12

4

• 
  26

  14

  Eiji Kawashima

  Made more than a few good saves to prevent the Italians for scoring and couldn't be blamed for any of the goals.
• 
  37

  8

  Yuto Nagatomo

  He was awesome when he overlapped and thrust himself on the wing but struggled when having to backtrack.
• 
  29

  15

  Atsuto Uchida

  In the same line as Nagatomo, great while attacking, shaky when defending. Will have nightmares with Giaccherini.
• 
  32

  10

  Yasuyuki Konno

  The weakest of the Japanese back four, he usually lost his man and needed help from Yoshida to hold his position.
• 
  25

  23

  Maya Yoshida

  Manage to hold off Balotelli but suffered with Giovinco's speed, and his misjudgement allowed Italy a foothold in the match.
• 
  84

  4

  Keisuke Honda

  The cultured midfielder will have impressed prospective clubs with a superb, controlling display, topped off by drilling home the opening goal from the penalty spot.
• 
  56

  2

  Yasuhito Endō

  A positive spark in midfield, as more than once, he combined effectively with Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda to lead Japan forward. Though his shooting radar was a bit off, he made up for it with some fine facilitative play, not least an inch-perfect free kick to tee up Shinji Okazaki for his side’s third.
• 
  60

  4

  Shinji Okazaki

  The wide player rifled a fantastic header past the despairing Buffon to draw Japan level at 3-3, and did his level best to disrupt the Italy back four.
• 
  43

  5

  Makoto Hasebe

  The lasting impression anyone will take from him this match was his look of absolute disbelief after conceding the harshest of penalties for handball – despite his hand tucked well behind his back. Picked up a yellow card for his troubles, but nearly made amends with a scorching drive from the edge of the box that whistled just over.
• 
  98

  4

  Shinji Kagawa

  The Manchester United man gave the Italy back line a torrid time from start to finish, and his stunning volley from inside the box sent the Japanese into dreamland in the first half.
• 
  36

  2

  Ryoichi Maeda

  Worked extremely hard along the line for Japan during his time on the pitch, giving them a focal point that was missing in the Brazil match. Tired, and was eventually replaced.

Substitutions

• 
  21

  13

  Mike Havenaar

  Came on late but had little effect on the contest. ---------------- goal.com