Nigeria, Nov. 27 -- Costa Rica have reignited their slim hopes at the ongoing World Cup in Qatar as they battled to a lone-goal victory over Japan in their second group game on Sunday.

The Blue Samurai as Japan are fondly called would have picked a Round of 16 ticket if they had followed up with another win after they stunned Germany in their group opener but they were denied early qualification by the Costa Ricans.

Japan, who have never won back-to-back games in the World Cup since 2002 had a chance to rewrite its history in a fashionable way that could have seen the Asian Country becoming the second country after France to seal their berth in the knock-out phase.

But the effort to earn such accolades went down the drain after Keysher...