Gary Neville, the famous football expert, praised two key strengths of the Japan national team after they came from behind to draw with the Netherlands in the 2026 World Cup group stage.
On 15 Jun 2026 GMT+7, Gary Neville, the well-known football pundit, praised two key qualities of the "Samurai Blue," Japan's national team, after they rallied to draw 2-2 with the "Orange Lions," the Netherlands national team, late in the game during the first match of Group F in the 2026 World Cup group stage.
Neville said, "This is exactly why you should never celebrate too early in football. The Netherlands thought they had won, but Japan fought with full belief. They had an attitude of never giving up and battled until the very last second. To be honest, the Netherlands completely lost control of the game in the final minutes. They stopped playing to win and started playing not to lose, which is always dangerous at the World Cup level."
"You could immediately sense the panic. One team looked lively, the other looked scared. That's not what you expect from an experienced nation like the Netherlands. People will talk about the finish of the game, and rightly so, but this equalizing goal was about mentality—Japan did not want to lose. They kept running, kept pressing, and kept believing their chance would come."
"I think the Netherlands should feel like they lost with this result. When you're leading late in the game by that much, there are no excuses; you must hold the score. Japan deserves huge credit because most teams would not keep fighting until the last second. And that's the harsh reality of the World Cup—ninety minutes of hard work can be undone by ten seconds of carelessness. Tonight, Japan gained one point, but the Netherlands lost two."