I wonder if Reid leaving the field actually helped us. End of the first half Japan had the bulk of possession, end of the game we were just ahead and (although I was a few beers in by game end) I seem to remember Japan's best chances and most incisive football happened in the first half too.
Of course, it was all helped by the humidity and the game opening up as people got tired.
Wood is obviously world class but he looked absolutely knackered pretty early in that game, the A-League players and regular starters for NZ would have experience in those sorts of conditions from playing in Australia and the islands but the last time Wood played in conditions like that was probably in 2016 in the OFC nations cup. Pretty impressive that the team seemed to outlast Japan in Japanese conditions, their fitness and conditioning is incredible, but some of the players were handling it better than others.
I was pretty confident we'd win it in extra time. Shame it went to pens.