Daichi Kamada’s 88th-minute header turned a corner into the net to earn Japan a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, according to James Olley. Koki Ogawa rose highest from a Junya Ito corner but the ball flicked off Kamada and beat Bart Verbruggen, prompting celebration among the blue-clad supporters in a crowd of 69,285.
After a largely uneventful first half, three goals arrived inside 13 minutes early in the second half. Virgil van Dijk opened the scoring with a 51st-minute header from a Ryan Gravenberch right-wing cross. Japan equalized six minutes later when Keito Nakamura cut inside to hit a low drive that appeared to take a deflection off Jan Paul van Hecke.
Crysencio Summerville, who only made his senior Netherlands debut earlier this month, put the Dutch back in front in the 64th minute with a curling effort that came in off the post. Summerville’s goal came in what was only his third senior cap; he had played in two warm-up matches against Algeria and Uzbekistan, according to Olley.
The Netherlands extended their unbeaten run in World Cup group-stage matches to 17, a present-day record, but dropped two points after yielding two leads, according to Olley. Memphis Depay, who had been expected to start, played only the final 20 minutes of the match.
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu continued with an attacking setup that saw Ritsu Dōan and Keito Nakamura deployed in wing-back roles; Nakamura provided one of Japan’s equalizers. Wing back Yukinari Sugawara told ESPN that the team did not come to the tournament “just for fun” and must be ready to challenge to win the World Cup, according to ESPN.
