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In the second round of Group F matches between the national teams of Japan and Croatia, a draw was recorded with a score of 0-0. It is worth mentioning that in the first half, the Croatian player D. Srna failed to convert a penalty kick from eleven meters.
Japan 0 - 0 Croatia
Japan: Y. Kawaguchi, T. Fukunishi (45' J. Inamoto), Y. Nakazawa, T. Miyamoto, Alex, S. Nakamura, H. Nakata, A. Kaji, M. Ogasawara, A. Yanagisawa (62' K. Tamada), N. Takahara (85' M. Oguro).
Croatia: S. Pletikosa, D. Simic, R. Kovac, J. Simunic, D. Srna (86' I. Bosnjak), N. Kovac, I. Tudor (70' I. Olic), M. Babic, N. Kranjcar (78' L. Modric), I. Klasnic, D. Prso.
After playing for about five minutes, the first shot was taken by the Croatians - receiving a pass from Niko Kovac, Niko Kranjcar took a shot from the edge of the penalty area, but hit it straight to Japan's goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi.
In the 20th minute, Japan's defender Tsuneyasu Miyamoto brought down Dado Prso in the penalty area and the referee awarded a penalty kick from eleven meters to the Japanese goal. Asia's representative goalkeeper Y. Kawaguchi chose the right side and blocked Darijo Srna's shot.
A few minutes later, N. Kranjcar took a dangerous shot from distance, but his shot hit the opponent's crossbar. Just a few minutes later, Ivano Klasnic's shot flew dangerously close to the Japanese goal.
In the 31st minute, Robert Kovac received a yellow card for a foul on Atsushi Yanagisawa. In the next match against Australia, R. Kovac will not be able to help his team, as this was his second yellow card in the tournament.
At the start of the second half, A. Kaji successfully crossed the ball into the penalty area, but A. Yanagisawa failed to finish off this pass.
After an hour of play, following a pass from D. Srna, Josip Simunic had a chance to head the ball, but the defender missed the goal. A few minutes later, Marko Babic's attempt also went wide.
After substitutions, the Japanese players revitalized the game, but they failed to score - in the 75th minute Junichi Inamoto's shot flew over the crossbar, and Keiji Tamada's dangerous cross into the penalty area was blocked by Croatian defender J. Simunic.
At the very end of the match, the Japanese team launched a dangerous attack, but the pass towards the goal was once again blocked by the reliable J. Simunic. So the match ended goalless, with the teams sharing a point.
