Japan squandered a chance to maneuver into the last-16 of the World Cup after Keysher Fuller’s aim 10 minutes from time gave Costa Rica a shock 1-0 win in a match during which that they had barely any probabilities.
The Samurai Blue did not trip the momentum of their shock win over Germany and can rue missed alternatives after displaying little creativity in opposition to a Costa Rican facet who defended resolutely after their 0-7 drubbing by Spain final day trip.
The consequence left Japan with a tricky problem to advance to the knockout phases, with Spain as their closing Group E opponents on Thursday.