FIFA World Cup 2018: Players stunned by loss, says Japan coach Nishino

Akira Nishino

Japan coach Akira Nishino admitted his desperate disappointment after seeing his side bow out of the World Cup in a 3-2 defeat against Belgium on Monday. "We started off well, but at the end, right at the end, to concede a goal like that is not expected," Nishino said.

"I told the players to take a shower in the changing room, because they were standing stunned. I will talk to them when we are back at the hotel," he said.

"When we were 2-0 up and I didn't change my players, I really wanted another goal, we were controlling the game but at that point Belgium upped their game when they really had to," Nishino added. "We were determined to disrupt a Belgium side at their best, but at the end we couldn't really match them."

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