Not content with one jaw-dropping shock in Group E, Japan managed a second in feverish conditions to beat a multitalented Spain side and claim another place for Asia in the last 16 of this increasingly unpredictable World Cup.
Two goals in three minutes just after half-time – one that was scored by the very finest of margins – shocked Spain cold, taking their metronomic rhythms and throwing them into a bin bag that was then politely disposed of. The Europeans still qualified for the knockout stages, in second place on goal difference ahead of Germany, but if this was a deliberate attempt to choose an easier path through the draw, nobody told that to their shellshocked players.
