Arsenal fans were given a blast from the past this afternoon as former Gunners striker Takuma Asano handed Japan a 2-1 win over Germany.
Few were really giving Japan much of a chance of securing a big result against Germany.
Ilkay Gündoğan’s opener from the penalty spot left Germany in the driving seat and with 20 minutes to play, Hansi Flick’s side looked set for a win.
Germany didn’t take their chances to kill the game off though and Japan made them pay.
Former Arsenal striker Takuma Asano downs Germany
Ritsu Doan levelled it up at 1-1 before former Arsenal striker Asano took centre stage.
A long ball forward wasn’t dealt with as Niklas Sule played Asano onside, and he raced through to fire past Manuel Neuer.
Japan still had to hold out for the win but they did it masterfully, embarrassing Germany in Doha.
The hero was Asano, who came off the bench to cause chaos in Germany back line.
Arsenal fans will have recognised Asano, some years after Arsene Wenger signed him.
The Gunners paid £3.5million to sign Asano from Sanfreece Hiroshima back in 2016, believing he had a big future ahead of him.
Former Nagoya Grampus Eight boss Wenger knew the Japanese market but Asano sadly went the same way as Junichi Inamoto and Ryo Miyaichi.
Asano wasn’t given a work permit though and ended up out on loan at Stuttgart and Hannover 96.
Arsenal decided to sell up in 2019, allowing Asano to join Partizan Belgrade for just £1million – a £2.5million loss.
Asano was a roaring success for Partizan, smashing 30 goals and 15 assists in 77 outings.
Now back in Germany with VfL Bochum having excelled in Serbia, 28-year-old Asano is on the up and has arguably just had the biggest moment of his career.
Asano may never have actually made an appearance for Arsenal but Gunners fans everywhere will be buzzing for the forward after today’s heroics.
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