European and African teams are battling for spots in the World Cup qualifiers, while the Latin American qualifying matches have already wrapped up. As a result, teams like Argentina and Brazil are playing FIFA friendlies during the international break.
Recently, Brazil impressed fans with a dominant 5-0 win over South Korea, powered by Vinicius and Rodrigo. However, on Tuesday, Japan pulled off a stunning upset. Despite trailing by two goals, they rallied to beat Brazil 3-2, setting a remarkable new precedent in international football.
This was the first time in the country's football history that Japan won against Brazil. The two teams had faced each other 7 times before. Brazil had won 5 of those matches, with 2 ending in draws. Japan opened its winning account for the first time. Even though it was a friendly match, Japan's name went into the history books. Not only that, this Asian team showed an excellent example of attacking football in the second half.
Japan faced Brazil at their home ground, Ajinomoto Stadium. Selecao coach Carlo Ancelotti did not field a full-strength team for this match. However, Brazil took a two-goal lead in the first half itself. In the 26th minute, Paulo Henrique scored the first goal from Bruno Guimaraes' cross. Just 6 minutes later, Gabriel Martinelli extended the lead.
However, Japan made a remarkable comeback in the second half.
At the 52nd minute, Takumi Minamino capitalized on a defensive lapse to pull one back for Japan. Just ten minutes later, Japan equalized the match within 10 minutes. Nakamura took a powerful shot from Ito's cross. The ball deflected off Brazil defender Fabricio Bruno and found the net.
Japan completed its comeback in the 71st minute. Ayase Ueda made it 3-2 with a powerful header from Ito's corner kick. After that, even bringing in Richarlison, Rodrigo, and Estevao could not help Brazil get back to level terms.
