Doha | With one delicious first touch, one lightning turn of pace and one wondrous swipe of his right boot, Takuma Asano set off a power surge to electrify this World Cup.

At a stroke, Japan’s bench emptied, the substitutes and support staff all charging down the touchline to engulf their bleach-blond striker as he vaulted the advertising hoardings, lost in the delirium of it all. Germany’s punch-drunk players could only look on bewildered, their reputation for ruthlessness emphatically debunked.

The Telegraph London