Women's World Cup - Japan saunter into final

Wed, 13 Jul 21:38:00 2011

Japan reached the World Cup final for the first time in their history after producing a wonderfully stylish and ruthlessly dominant performance to defeat Sweden 3-1 in Frankfurt.

Women's World Cup - Stylish Japan beat Sweden

Having shocked host nation Germany in the quarter-final, Japan again caught the eye with a magnificent display despite going behind to an early goal from Josefine Oqvist as they were punished for a sloppy mistake.

That effectively marked the end of Sweden's active participation in the contest - they had just two further shot shots in a horrible evening for Thomas Dennerby's side - as Japan's imperious passing saw them impose themselves on the game in impressive fashion.

Nahomi Kawasumi, unexpectedly included in the starting XI, rounded off a lovely move to equalise before the gulf between the sides opened up in the second half with captain Homare Sawa heading Japan into a 59th-minute lead.

It was Kawasumi who applied the coup de grace with a delicious lob from long range after 64 minutes, ensuring that Japan deservedly claimed their place in the final against USA.

Japan have developed a reputation for slick, patient passing so it was a real surprise to see the opening goal come about as a result of a sloppy pass, and from none other than playmaker Sawa, who was so influential in the win over Germany in the quarter-finals.

Sawa's square pass rolled into the path of Oqvist after ten minutes and the forward rode a challenge from Azusa Iwashimizu and drove into the box before firing an excellent shot back across goal and past Ayumi Kaihori, thanks in part to a deflection off the boot of Saki Kumagai.

Japan retained their faith in their passing game though and responded on 19 minutes. Shinobu Ohno was the catalyst for a fine move as she spun neatly in the centre of the pitch and spread the ball wide to Aya Miyama, who delivered a fantastic first-time cross.

Kawasumi was pushed from behind as she prepared to head home but saw the ball bounce off her shin and between the legs of Sweden goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl to bring Japan back level.

Japan were comprehensively winning the midfield battle with their intricate approach and Sweden found themselves constantly repelling a sea of blue shirts. Kawasumi went close again with a firm drive and Miyama had an excellent free-kick turned round the post as Norio Sasaki's side finished the half firmly on top.

Little changed after the break, and Ohno almost made it 2-1 inside 60 seconds as she struck the bar with an outrageous effort from 30 yards, allowing the ball to bounce twice before unleashing a fearsome effort that had Lindahl in trouble.

Still Sweden were unable to cope with their opponents' superior passing and Japan took a deserved lead after 59 minutes. Miyama caused problems with another fine delivery from the left and after Lindahl flapped at the ball, Sawa held her nerve to head in from close range.

Within 64 minutes it was 3-1 as Kawasumi scored a goal worthy of gracing any stage. After Lindahl rushed off her line to deal with a through-ball and found herself stranded, Kawasumi teed herself up with one touch before executing a glorious volleyed lob from 35 yards.

Sweden were sinking without trace and their effort was truly lamentable. Japan, though, sent a clear signal to USA ahead of the final.

Tom Adams - Follow me on Twitter @tomEurosport / Eurosport

Comment 27 - 46 of 46

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  1. I'm Japanese, born in Japan, living in the USA,­ joining US Navy this August. Honestly, I'm­ satisfied already.. I supported both teams from the­ group stage and now both are in the final. LOL

    From Shohei, on Sun 17 Jul 23:00

  2. 2 different styles, this game is like a re-match of­ Manchester United (cross ball) vs Barcelona (tic-a-tac)

    From Vincent, on Sun 17 Jul 17:57

  3. This message is to "eduardo42288". You need­ to wake up and pull your head out. You have no idea­ what you are talking about. What an ignorant person you­ are! People like you should keep you thoughts to your­ self!!!!!! GO USA

    From Blue Venom, on Sun 17 Jul 16:00

  4. Congratulations to the "Nadeshiko"!

    Mike­ USA salutes the great SAWA..Brilliant passing by the­ 'Great One' SAWA and a magnificient finish by­ KARINA - poetry in motion! Go Go Banzai­ Girls...American loves you! Football doesn't get­ any better than this.

    The high skill level and­ precision passing and inspired greatness of the­ 'Nadeshiko' team along with their brilliant­ strikers are far above any other team in the world cup.­ SAWA remind me of the great PELE the Brazilian teams­ that he captained.

    The Japanese proved once again­ that great skill, smartness, dicipline and cool nerves­ will always win out over brute force, clumsiness and­ lack of coordination and panic. They deserved to­ win!

    Watch out that deadly combination again­ SAWA/Kawasumi/Miyama/Endo to bring victory over USA.­ 3-1

    Mike USA

    From MichaelC, on Sun 17 Jul 13:27

  5. Remember Pearl Harbor! Go USA!

    From deepseakillr, on Sun 17 Jul 13:02

  6. Sports and politics dont mix.

    From Political incorrect, on Sun 17 Jul 9:11

  7. It is very nice to see all the support here for Japan.­ They deserve it. But if you are a citizen of the U.S.A.­ and live there you should be rooting for them to win. I­ get the feeling there are a lot of Asians rooting for­ Japan that live and prosper in America.... wrongly. I­ was born elsewhere and love my native country but would­ NEVER dream of rooting against the American team. Proud­ to be American. GO U.S.A.!!!

    From BigC, on Sun 17 Jul 5:02

  8. The grammar is fine. In the UK, when referring to a­ single (but collective) entity, they treat it as­ plural. That's how you get the instances of­ "Japan have developed" and "Sweden were­ unable to cope," etc.

    From Lucky Black Cats, on Sun 17 Jul 5:02

  9. Yes, the grammar in this article is terrible,. It is­ terrible here in L.A. too - and on TV - I do not­ understand why they do not teach it in schools anymore­ -

    From janethebold, on Sun 17 Jul 1:51

  10. Go Japan!

    Signed your sisters and brothers from­ America and The World!

    From Godsbreath64, on Sun 17 Jul 1:27

  11. This hopefully is a rallying cry for those in Japan­ affected by the disaster. I would be lying if I said­ I was not rooting for the US, but I am impressed and­ proud of what the Japanese have achieved so far.

    From G-Man, on Sat 16 Jul 6:32

  12. good luck to U.S. and Japan.

    From b, on Sat 16 Jul 4:32

  13. go Japan!
    good luck from America.

    From N Tran, on Sat 16 Jul 3:59

  14. How supercool, the underdogs are shinning so brightly!­ Japan style of play reminds me of the tiki-taka of the­ Spanish team or even Barça, plus they also seem to have­ the extra luck scoring when needed, (not like us the­ spanish that won the world cup scoring only eight­ goals, can you believe it, but conceading only two as­ well). I wish Japan's passing football play­ prevails over the mighty usa.

    From Vicente luís Fandos, on Sat 16 Jul 3:40

  15. Americans have a never give in attitude,but Japan have­ a skill with the ball you dont often see..should be a­ great game..may the best team win.

    From john sloop b, on Sat 16 Jul 1:07
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    the grammer in this article is absolutely horrible...

    From 4Real, on Fri 15 Jul 12:16

  17. ...I'm an American of Japanese and German descent. ­ Talk about a World Cup of mixed loyalties ! I've­ been enjoying this marvelous tournament with possibly­ one regret....seeing the host nation eliminated so­ early...a situation of pairings that I didn't want­ to see. Well Sunday is gonna be HUGE --- history will­ be written once more !

    From Jesse, on Fri 15 Jul 9:53

  18. Yamato, Voltes V, Daimos, Dragon Ball and the football­ Gods were looking down on Japan. Average skill and­ small in stature yet they proove why football is the­ worlds number one sport. "Lets bolt in."

    From banana_split_orig, on Fri 15 Jul 5:59

  19. Japan is great, only thing I have to say is Tataschi­ Tuscheh! Go Japan!

    From fredparper, on Fri 15 Jul 4:06

  20. It is absolutley amazing how this World Cup progressed.­ First, Canada bombed (they should get all the films of­ the Japanese games and copy their style), and get the­ Canadian Soccer Federation off the coaches back and­ support her with the funding this team deserves. ­ Brazil gave away the game to the US. The USA is a never­ say die team and deserves to be in the final. The­ French are going to be a team to watch out for, they­ play a beautiful game. Sweden it think underestimated­ Japan, they could not defend and, you can't score­ if you don't have the ball. Germany. Ooooh my.­ What happened here. Something internal. This is such a­ good team, hopefully they can pull the pieces back­ together. Now for Japan. This has to be the only team­ that does not foul ( I could be wrong, but only one­ yellow card so far) If you watch them, you will see­ that they try not to follow through on any tackle, if a­ player passes them, they won't take them down, they­ will hustle after them and wait to take the ball or­ steer them into another defender. Just great to watch.­ NO DIVING either. Japan has already accomplished a­ great deal in this tournament and deserve to be where­ they are. This is going to be a wonderful Gold Medal­ match to watch. I think that the USA will win with­ their strength, attitude and determination that has got­ them this far. But, I would really like to see Japan­ pass their way to the Gold. Rob

    From r.mcgibbon, on Thu 14 Jul 21:50
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