Maya Yoshida claims he always KNEW Japan would get through their Group of Death.
And Japan captain Yoshida says they are now ready to write another page in his country’s football history as they face Croatia in the last 16. Former Southampton defender Yoshida, 34, says he studied his stats before the World Cup which left him utterly convinced that Japan would go through even though they were in a Group with Germany and Spain.
Incredibly, Japan beat Spain and Germany and ended up knocking Germany out of the World Cup in one of the great upsets. But Yoshida, who now plays for Schalke in the Bundesliga, admitted he did not share his information with his team mates but says he always believed.
