Brazil's Vanderson Campos and Japan's Koki Machida tussle for the ball during the match. (EPA Images pic)SINGAPORE: 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 in June, the Samurai Blue seized the early initiative with two goals in a torrid four-minute spell.
