'We have 7 players in Bundesliga': Japan boss hails stunning World Cup win made in Germany

Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu hailed a win made in the Bundesliga after his Blue Samurai stunned four-times champions Germany 2-1 in their World Cup opener on Wednesday.

Eight of Japan's squad are based in Germany and it was two of those players who scored the goals that sealed a historic victory for the Asian side.

Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg)

Ko Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach)

Maya Yoshida (Schalke)

Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart)

Wataru Endo (Stuttgart)

Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Dusseldorf)

Daichi Kamada (Francfort)

Takuma Asano (Bochum)

Freiburg's Ritsu Doan and Bochum's Takuma Asano both came off the bench to strike late in the second half and help Japan pull off an unlikely comeback against a German team leading through Ilkay Gundogan's first-half penalty.

Moriyasu said a second-half tactical switch had helped turn the tide but credited his players' footballing education in Europe as the real foundation for the win.

"We have seven players in the Bundesliga and one in the German second division, but we have many more playing in big leagues in Europe and that has played a big part in our development," he said.

"Germany are a big team but our players stayed calm and patient."

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Japan looked unlikely to take anything from the match after a timid first half where Germany should have been more than a solitary goal ahead.

Goalkeeper Shuchi Gonda kept Japan in it with a string of good saves after the break, and when space began to open up in Germany's defence, Doan and Asano took advantage.

Gonda said that the team had been inspired by watching Saudi Arabia come from behind to sink Argentina the previous day.

"We knew that like Saudi Arabia, if they didn't score any more goals and we kept going until the end, we would get our