There has been lots of hand wringing over the state of Asian football given the region’s continuing failure at World Cups; a meagre return of three wins from a combined 27 games this time around will do that for you.Still, there was some optimism surrounding Japan’s chances of reaching the latter stages of the tournament, especially considering they were facing a Brazil side who, by that country’s standards, are decidedly average.Unfortunately, an average Carlo Ancelotti team is always going to prove a handful, even if it did need Gabriel Martinelli’s strike deep into stoppage time to seal a 2-1 victory in Houston.So, the only Asian Football Confederation side with a realistic chance of making the quarter-finals fell at the first knockout hurdle once again, and now all hopes rest on Australia pulling off a shock win against Egypt this weekend.Germany haven’t had the best time of things at World Cups either recently, and are deep into extra time in their game against Paraguay at Gillette Stadium. But it’s in Texas where we’ll start our wrap-up of what happened overnight.Gabriel Martinelli scores his side’s late winner in Houston. Photo: TNS24 years of hurt