Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Winnipeg: Japan maintained their 100% record at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup as the reigning world champions defeated Ecuador 1-0 on on Tuesday to advance to the Round of 16 as Group C winners.
The South American debutants went into their final match in Canada having shipped 16 goals in their previous two matches following defeats to fellow first-timers Cameroon (6-0) and Switzerland (10-0) and despite dominating the tie, the Nadeshiko only had Yuki Ogimi’s fifth minute opener to show from their 66% possession and 20 attempts on goal.
“Ecuador were very persistent in their defence but, over the 90 minutes, I think it was important that we defended well,” said Japan coach Norio Sasaki, who saw the reigning Asian champions enjoy a relatively stress free afternoon in Winnipeg against an Ecuador side that failed to create a single clear-cut opportunity on Miho Fukamoto’s goal.
“We were successful in scoring early and I thought we would be able to score more, but we weren’t able to,” continued the 57-year-old, who was named FIFA World Coach of the Year and AFC Coach of the Year after leading Japan to glory at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“On the whole I think we were able to do quite well in terms of our possession, but unfortunately we weren’t able to score more, which was disappointing.”
Japan scored the only goal of the game just five minutes after Honduran referee Melisa Borjas had whistled for the start of the match at Winnipeg Stadium, with Germany-based striker Ogimi getting on the end of a cross from captain Aya Miyama, scorer of the winner in Japan’s 1-0 defeat of Switzerland.
But despite bossing the tie, the reigning world and Asian champions couldn’t add to their tally in the remaining 85 minutes with Miyama, who saw her header tipped onto the crossbar by Ecuador keeper Shirley Beruz, and Yuki Sugasawa hitting the woodwork with an acrobatic overhead-kick in the 80th minute, the closest Japan came to giving the scoreline a more flattering perspective.
“Despite the two previous routs we suffered, we showed why we deserved to be here,” said an understandably proud Ecuador coach Vanessa Arauz.
“We earned our qualification and we have defended the honour of our country. We'll take this experience and continue to develop women's football in Ecuador.”
While Ecuador head home, Japan will take a trip to Vancouver for their Round of 16 clash on June 23.
Photo: FIFA/Getty Images