Date: 04-06-2002
Stage: first round
Place: SAITAMA
Running time: 103 min.
Colour: PAL
Quality: HD 1080p 30fps (10)
Commentary: MULTI : japanese/italian/spanish
My rating: ***
Notes:
MATCH SUMMARY
Tuesday, 4 June 2002, 18:00
Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama
Attendance: 55,258
Meteo: Clear, warm, 26°C
JAPAN
Seigo Narazaki
Naoki Matsuda
Ryuzo Morioka (c)
Koji Nakata
Daisuke Ichikawa
Junichi Inamoto
Hidetoshi Nakata
Shinji Ono
Kazuyuki Toda
Takayuki Suzuki
Atsushi Yanagisawa
Coach: Philippe Troussier (FRA)
31′ Kazuyuki Toda
54′ Junichi Inamoto
64′ ↓Shinji Ono ↑Alessandro Santos Alex
71′ ↓Takayuki Suzuki ↑Hiroaki Morishima
73′ ↓Ryuzo Morioka ↑Tsuneyasu Miyamoto
BELGIUM
Geert De Vlieger
Jacky Peeters
Daniel Van Buyten
Peter Van der Heyden
Eric Van Meir
Bart Goor
Timmy Simons
Yves Vanderhaeghe
Gert Verheyen
Johan Walem
Marc Wilmots (c)
Coach: Robert Waseige (BEL)
21′ Peter Van der Heyden
62′ Gert Verheyen
82′ Eric Van Meir
71′ ↓Johan Walem ↑Wesley Sonck
83′ ↓Gert Verheyen ↑Branko Strupar
Referee: William Mattus (CRC)
Goals:
57′ Marc Wilmots (BEL)
59′ Takayuki Suzuki (JPN)
68′ Junichi Inamoto (JPN)
75′ Peter Van der Heyden (BEL)
Match overview
Japan earned their first World Cup point in a thrilling encounter with Belgium. After Wilmots’ spectacular overhead kick opener, Suzuki quickly equalised before Inamoto put the hosts ahead. Van der Heyden’s powerful header ensured Belgium salvaged a point from an entertaining contest.
Trivia
This match marked the first time co-hosts had avoided defeat in their opening World Cup fixture since Switzerland in 1954. The four goals scored in the final twenty minutes made it one of the most exciting debuts in tournament history.
