Brazil booked their place in the last 16 of the World Cup in dramatic fashion, sealing a 2-1 win over Japan with a late, last-gasp winner as the knockout stage kicked off in earnest.<\/p>\n
The decisive moment came from Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli, who struck in the fifth minute of stoppage time to turn a tense encounter into a breakthrough for Brazil at NRG Stadium in Houston.<\/p>\n
Japan had looked set to stage one of the tournament\u2019s biggest shocks, taking the lead early in the second half of the match before ultimately being undone by Brazil\u2019s late surge.<\/p>\n
Kaishu Sano put Japan ahead on the counter-attack, finding the net with a standout finish in the 29th minute.<\/p>\n
After that opener, Brazil appeared rattled for the remainder of the first half, while Japan\u2014described as the Asian giants\u2014managed their advantage comfortably through to the break.<\/p>\n
With the contest still delicately poised, Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti made a bold adjustment at half-time, introducing another forward, Endrick, to replace Lucas Paqueta.<\/p>\n
The leveler arrived when Casemiro nodded the ball in at the far post following a superb curling delivery from the left by Gabriel Magalhaes.<\/p>\n
Japan still appeared to be steering the match toward extra time, but Brazil struck the decisive blow after a costly error in injury time.<\/p>\n
Ao Tanaka gave the ball away on the edge of the area, and Japan\u2019s mistake was punished quickly: the ball went to Martinelli, who took a touch before firing home the winning goal.<\/p>\n
Brazil\u2019s reward for the victory is a last-16 tie against either C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire or Norway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Brazil booked their place in the last 16 of the World Cup in dramatic fashion, sealing a 2-1 win over Japan with a late, last-gasp winner as the knockout stage kicked off in earnest. Late drama at NRG Stadium The decisive moment came from Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli, who struck in the fifth minute of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Brazil vs Japan: Martinelli Winner Sends Them to Last 16","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Brazil stun Japan with a stoppage-time goal as Martinelli seals a 2-1 win, sending the Selecao into the World Cup last 16.","mma_seo_breadcrumb_text":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_url":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_hide_ui":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_labels":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n