Japan romped to an emphatic 4-1 away win against Germany in an international friendly on Saturday, beating the four-time World Cup winners again following their famous 2-1 triumph at the tournament in Qatar last November.
Junya Ito's opener was canceled out by Leroy Sane before Ayase Ueda gave the Samurai Blue a 2-1 lead at the break at Volkswagen Arena, with two late goals, both set up by substitute Takefusa Kubo, sealing the tie and potentially the fate of beleaguered Germany manager Hansi Flick.
"This is a different sort of win from the one at the World Cup," said Takehiro Tomiyasu after marshaling Japan's backline superbly in his first appearance for his country since the global tournament.
"The first thing was to stay compact...Keeping the defensive line high was something we talked about before the match as a defensive unit as a whole and I believe we carried that out well."
Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu opted to leave in-form Kubo on the bench and started with Ito on the right wing, and the decision was vindicated when Japan took the lead in the 11th minute. Right-back Yukinari Sugawara's cross was met by Ito at the near post, with his shot taking a deflection off Antonio Rudiger to fly past keeper Marc ter Stegen.
Germany were level in the 19th minute with a move started by Ilkay Gundogan, the scorer of a penalty in the last encounter between the sides at the Khalifa International Stadium. His pass in the middle released Florian Wirtz, who fed the ball to his right to an unmarked Sane before the winger rolled the ball into the far corner.
It did not deter Japan as they quickly restored the lead three minutes later. It was another attack down the right and while Sugawara's fast cross into the box was miscued by Ito, Ueda instinctively stuck his left foot out and diverted the ball into the low right corner.
Unlike the first half of the match in Qatar, Japan pressed and retained possession well in the middle of the park to keep Germany away from the danger zone and the visitors should have made it 3-1 in the 41st minute. Ueda picked up a loose pass between the German backline and the forward had a long, free run at goal but spurned the golden opportunity as he failed to beat ter Stegen in a one-on-one.
Germany had a chance of their own late in the half on a counter but Sane was tracked by fit-again Tomiyasu, whose tackle denied the pacey attacker's shot.
A heavy touch saw Ueda waste another one-on-one with the keeper early in the second half, while Daichi Kamada and Kaoru Mitoma both tested the German goal from distance before Moriyasu moved to play three at the back, happy to hit Germany on the break.
The decision almost backfired immediately when captain Wataru Endo, who had had a dominant outing until then, was fortunate not to give away a penalty after toppling Nico Schlotterbeck from behind in the 63rd minute. But Germany, without injured star Jamal Musiala, lacked a creative spark and failed to really test Japan keeper Keisuke Osako in the second half.
Substitute Takuma Asano, the scorer of the winner in Qatar, could not nail another one-on-one for Japan in the 70th minute but eventually got on the scoresheet as Japan added two late goals, both engineered by Kubo.
The 22-year-old robbed Robin Gosens of the ball inside the Japanese half and carried it all the way before unselfishly setting up Asano to tap home in the 90th minute. He was not done, with his cross from the right headed home by another substitute, Ao Tanaka, two minutes into stoppage time.
"We're building things up while setting the bar high," said Moriyasu, who as in Qatar made a tactical tweak after the break to produce yet another fine outcome.
"The players were smart in taking on the challenge to execute my difficult (in-game) tactical changes...It was great they showed the ability to cope with different situations and make adjustments, and defend with intensity while not forgetting to attack."
Japan, 20th in the FIFA rankings, have now won two, lost one and drawn one from their meetings with 15th-ranked Germany. The hosts for the European Championship next summer have lost four of their six friendlies since the Qatar World Cup.
Japan will face Turkey next in a friendly in Genk, Belgium, on Tuesday.
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