Late Martinelli strike squeezes Brazil past valiant Japan in World Cup Round of 32

A sprightly opening saw both teams quickly into their stride, stroking the ball around with confidence. Zion Suzuki was the busier of the two goalkeepers without ever looking like conceding in the early stages, though he did have to tip Matheus Cunha’s 14th-minute daisy-cutter around the post as Brazil threatened.

Although both teams had forged an attacking reputation in the tournament, there was precious little goalmouth incident as the halfway point of the first period arrived.

And when Kaishu Sano picked up a loose ball on the halfway line in the 29th minute, there appeared to be little danger, but his direct running saw him outpace the leggy Casemiro and drive a low long-range effort into the bottom corner past a despairing Alisson Becker.

Ominously for the Selecao, they hadn’t won any of their last five matches at the WC when conceding first, and the shock of going behind saw them second to every ball as HT arrived.

Within 30 seconds of the second half starting, Brazilian substitute Endrick had injected some purpose into the attack, and Suzuki was forced into an early claim. Though Japan continued to defend well, pressure was clearly beginning to build, and only a flying save from Suzuki stopped Bruno Guimaraes from equalising, shortly before a combination of Takehiro Tomiyasu and Suzuki kept the ball from crossing the line from a Casemiro diving header.

However, the departing Manchester United midfielder wouldn’t be denied for long, powering home a header at the far post from Gabriel Magalhaes’ fine delivery to level the game just before the hour mark.

Armed with the momentum, Brazil almost turned the game on its head when Vinicius Junior’s mazy run looked to have ended with him scoring the goal of the tournament, only for his prodded effort to be tipped onto the woodwork.

Alisson was then called into action when Ueda surprised him with a shot from the edge of the box, but in truth, the sting had gone out of Japan’s attacking.

With a minute left, Guimaraes found Gabriel Martinelli in space at the far post, and his bent effort broke Japanese hearts once more.

The result means that Japan still haven’t managed to beat Brazil in a competitive fixture, nor have they been able to get over the line in a WC knockout game. Brazil are still on course to face old foes Argentina later in the tournament, after claiming a 14th H2H without defeat in 15 games against the Samurai Blue.