TOKYO — Substitute Tatsuhiro Sakamoto netted his first international goal with a late winner as Japan edged Brazil 3-2 in a thrilling friendly at the National Stadium in Singapore on Saturday.
A brilliant brace by Vinicius Junior had erased a two-goal deficit after strikes by Takefusa Kubo and Keito Nakamura put the Samurai Blue 2-0 up in the opening 19 minutes.
But Sakamoto was in the right place to fire home after latching on to Kodai Sano’s deflected effort in stoppage time to give the Asian side a dramatic victory in front of 38,688 fans.
In the first meeting between the teams since Brazil’s 2-1 win in the round of 32 at the World Cup last June, the Samurai Blue seized the early initiative with two goals in a torrid four-minute spell
On 15 minutes, a through ball by Ritsu Doan was picked up just inside the Brazilian half by Kubo, who showed quick feet to cut inside Jair before firing a low effort past goalkeeper Pedro Morisco, AFP reported.
Japan added another shortly afterwards after some fine work by Shuto Nakano, who broke down the right flank and centred for an unmarked Nakamura to calmly place a right-footed shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Brazil responded with a magnificent goal by Vinicius in the 33rd minute. Zion Suzuki had made an excellent stop to deny Estevao when he bore down on goal, but the Japan goalkeeper could do little when the ball fell to Vinicius, who found the top corner with a right-footed diagonal drive
Suzuki made good stops to deny Brazilian debutant Andre just before halftime and skipper Raphinha after the interval as Japan clung to their narrow lead.
But the Selecao were not to be denied and Vinicius put them back on level terms in the 75th minute with another fine finish as he cut in from the left flank and launched a low right-footed effort that found the net off the right post.
Brazil went close to grabbing the winner as substitute Endrick rocked the crossbar with a fierce effort and Joao Gomes sent a low shot narrowly wide.
But in stoppage time, an effort by Kodai Sano took a fortunate bounce off a defender and fell nicely for Sakamoto to send the ball past Pedro Morisco.
Brazil appealed for a foul in the build-up to the goal, but VAR upheld the goal and Raphinha was shown a red card for his vehement protests.
