“Would slide tackle his nan” “Better than Caicedo” - Liverpool star earns rave reviews for his performance against Germany
Liverpool fans hailed Wataru Endo on X (formerly Twitter) after the Japan captain put in an excellent performance yesterday (September 9) during their 4-1 win against Germany in a friendly.
The pressure continues to pile on Hansi Flick as Germany were subjected to their fourth loss in their past five games at the Volkswagen Arena last night.
Junya Ito gave Japan the lead in the 11th minute before Leroy Sane leveled the scores just eight minutes later. Ayase Ueda gave the away side the advantage in the 22nd minute to give them the lead going into half-time.
Japan looked more threatening in the second half and were rewarded in the 90th minute. Takumi Asano netted to seal a famous win for Japan, before Ao Tanaka scored in the second minute of stoppage time to secure a commanding 4-1 win.
Japanese skipper Wataru Endo had a phenomenal game in midfield and was given a 7.4 rating by FotMob. The 30-year-old completed 35 out of his 40 passes, won 100% of his tackles, and made two interceptions. Moreover, he also made six recoveries and won seven duels.
A compilation by @CF_Compss went viral on X, depicting Endo bossing the game. Fans praised Endo for his performance; some of their reactions can be viewed below:
Endo will next feature for Japan in a friendly against Turkey on Tuesday, September 12.
"I was not expecting that move" - Fabrizio Romano gives his verdict on Liverpool signing Wataru Endo
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano recently gave his thoughts on Liverpool signing Wataru Endo. The Japan skipper signed a four-year deal with the Reds on August 18 for a transfer fee of £16 million, from VfB Stuttgart.
Jurgen Klopp and Co. were in the market for a new central defensive midfielder this summer and were heavily linked to Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. After missing out on the aforementioned stars to Chelsea, they settled for Wataru Endo instead.
Romano disclosed how he managed to break the transfer first on the Here We Go podcast, even saying it was the funniest transfer of the summer. He said (via The Boot Room):
“I want to mention Endo to Liverpool, it was really funny because after the Caicedo story I wanted to bring news on the Liverpool midfield. I got the story about Endo and I was really surprised. They told me about Endo and they all told me it was a surprising move, but Liverpool will be signing a special player, he is a fighter, a super professional player, amazing in the dressing room in terms of relationship with the teammates, so Endo to Liverpool was really funny because I was not expecting that move.”
Endo has made three appearances for the Reds so far and will be aiming to make a mark against Wolverhampton Wanderers on September 16.