Group F
Japan 0, Croatia 0
A last-minute change of mind by goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi kept Japan's World Cup hopes alive when he saved a penalty in the 0-0 draw against Croatia on Sunday.
"I thought about diving to my right, but then I changed my mind at the last minute. And thankfully it paid off," the 30-year-old said.
Kawaguchi brilliantly saved Darijo Srna's 21st minute penalty after Dado Prso had been tripped in the box. The former Portsmouth reserve dived to his left to punch away a low shot heading into the corner of the net.
He had aimed to revenge Japan's 1-0 loss to Croatia in 1988 when the two sides made their debut in the World Cup finals.
Japan went out with no points from the first round while the Balkan side went on to finish third behind France and Brazil.
"I haven't saved a penalty for a long time, so today it came at a good time," he said. "If Croatia had scored at that time, it would have been extremely difficult for us to find a way back into match."
Known as the guardian god at home, Kawaguchi has dazzled with extraordinary saves at Japan's moments of crisis, especially during their march to a third Asian Cup in China in 2004.
`tremendous save'
"Obviously I was extremely disappointed to miss the penalty, but my teammates were great about it," said 24-year-old Srna, who plays for Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk. "I struck the ball well, but it was a tremendous save from the Japanese goalkeeper."
In 1998, Kawaguchi was in goal when playmaker Hidetoshi Nakata's error led to a Croatian counterattack with Davor Suker scoring in the 77th minute.
That doomed Japan to an early exit. Suker ended as the tournament's top scorer with six goals.
"Of course, we will be desperate to get revenge," Kawaguchi said on the eve of the grudge match. "We have overcome tough situations like this. We should fight on with confidence like men."
Both Japan and Croatia, who lost their opening matches, earned one point from the draw, keeping alive their hopes of overtaking Australia for the second qualifying spot in Group F behind five-time champions Brazil.
Brazil beat Australia 2-0 in the day's second match to book an early ticket to the knockout stages.
"Our goalkeeper made a really beautiful save that helped us keep a clean sheet," Japan coach Zico said.
"It was a truly wonderful save ... that summed up our luck," Croatia coach Zlatko Kranjcar said. "We were better organized and we created the better chances. That said, I feel that we lost two points today."
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