Well, in the end, the solution didn't come from the bench. No, it seemed that everyone forgot the players' intelligence on the pitch. They were not as brainless as everyone always thought they were. Even though the process was indeed a little bit slower, they still managed to adapt to the situation quite well.
It was Koki Morita who initiated everything from the midfield. With the help of Mitsuki Saito, the two backbones in the midfield helped the team get out of the immense pressure from the South Korean team. They showed off their combination skills, even dragging some players nearby to join, so that they could create more space for Japan in the midfield.
This worked well, because the pressure suddenly got alleviated from the defensive line. South Korean players didn't dare to push further, because Japan had already proven themselves that with a good combination pass between three or four players, they could get so easily out of that press.
