Oranje start World Cup campaign with 2-2 draw after late goal from Japan

Oranje let a win slip against Japan in their first game of the FIFA World Cup after conceding a late equalizer on Sunday night in Arlington, Texas. An 89th-minute header by Daichi Kamada resulted in a 2-2 final score after Crysencio Summerville, Keito Nakamura, and Virgil van Dijk had scored in the Dallas Stadium.

The result means both sides will likely need a win from their last two games of group F to advance from the group stage. Oranje play Sweden on Saturday evening before facing Tunisia six days later in the final group game. Sweden and Tunisia face each other at 4 a.m.

Koeman went with the same team that played the final friendlies before the tournament, with Donyell Malen playing in the striker position. He was flanked by Crysencio Summerville and Cody Gakpo. It is the first time ever that Oranje are starting a World Cup game without a single Eredivisie player in their side.

Ironically, Japan had three Eredivisie players in their side. Feyenoord defender Tsuyoshi Watanabe, Kodai Sano of NEC, and Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda started the game for the Japanese. In addition, they also had Ajax defenders Ko Itakura and Takehiro Tomiyasu and NEC forward Koki Ogawa on the bench.

Oranje created their first chance of the World Cup after two minutes. Malen spun away from his man and hit a hard shot towards goal, but it was stomped away by Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki.

Malen forced Suzuki into another save in the 34th minute. The AS Roma forward met Tijjani Reijnders corner, but the header was straight at Suzuki.

Japan created its first real chance of the game shortly before halftime. A cross went on to the far post, where Keito Nakamura controlled it before hitting a low, hard shot just wide of the Oranje goal.

Oranje had a clear size advantage, and they used it to their advantage to take the lead in the 51st minute. The two Liverpool players combined with Ryan Gravenberch’s looping cross headed into the far corner by the team captain Virgil van Dijk.

Van Dijk became Oranje’s second-oldest-ever goalscorer at a World Cup as a result of the goal at the age of 34. Giovanni van Bronckhorst scored in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa at 35 years of age.

Japan equalized six minutes later. Again, it was Nakamura who found space for a shot; his effort was likely not going to cause too much trouble for Oranje keeper Bart Verbruggen, but a deflection by Jan-Paul van Hecke led to the ball finding the net.

Koeman’s side retook the lead in the 64th minute. Crysencio Summerville scored his first goal for Oranje by cutting inside and hitting a low shot towards the far corner with his weaker foot, which found the net via the inside of the post.

Japan got its equalizer in the 89th minute after a period of sustained pressure. A corner was headed into the goal by Kamada, who plays for English side Crystal Palace. The ball was actually headed towards goal by Ogawa from a corner, but the ball had deflected in off of the midfielder, and via the hands of Verbruggen.

Earlier in the day, Curaçao, the other team from the Kingdom of the Netherlands at the World Cup, lost 7-1 to Germany in its first-ever match at the tournament.