Japan's versatility should have title rivals concerned

WELLINGTON — Japan held the ball far less against Spain than it did in its first two Women's World Cup matches and yet kept on scoring against the Spanish.

Japan switched tactics in its final Group C match, moving from a possession-oriented style to quick counterattacks. The result was a 4-0 trouncing of the sixth-ranked team in the world, a first-place finish in the group, and a display of versatility that makes Japan look like a serious title contender.

Playing in a stadium dominated by their fans, the Japanese time and again swarmed the Spanish offense, stole the ball, and moved up the pitch as aggressively as possible. Japanese forward Hinata Miyazawa scored twice and said she "never imagined" such offensive power.

"Achieving the result is something that is a great pleasure for me," she said. "It's everybody's goal together, not just me."

Miyazawa's performance against Spain was the latest in a run that's elevated her to one of the tournament's best forwards. She has four goals and an assist in three games.

It's a remarkable turnaround from Japan's 2019 performance at the Women's World Cup, when the entire team scored three goals in four games.

Japan's aggressive play was noticeably different from Spain's approach. The Spanish took their time in possession, moved the ball around and tried to poke holes in the Japanese backline. It didn't work and Japan claimed its third shutout through three games at the tournament.

The Japanese were an unyielding block on defense, which forced Spain toward the edges of the pitch. while the Japanese flooded the box to avoid giving up a goal from a cross. La Roja had just one shot on target in the first half, which goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita comfortably saved.

"We passed the ball many times, but horizontally, and it was not what we were looking for," Spanish coach Jorge Vilda said through a translator. "What we always look for is to reach the opponent's goal. We were not able to achieve this."

Japan's counterattacking style was far different from its previous matches. Against Zambia and Costa Rica, Japan held the majority of possession. Against Spain, Japan only controlled possession 24 percent of the time.

"The first and the second game, we had more time for us to be able to work with the ball and be able to be careful on their counterattacks," Japan manager Futoshi Ikeda said.

Ikeda prepared his team to spend the majority of the game against Spain on defense and then "take advantage of whatever opportunity" they had.

"Players on the defensive line, including the goalkeeper, have competed in the three matches without giving up any goals and stayed focused," Ikeda added.

"Forwards and midfielders also share the idea of being able to switch their roles to defend the goal, and I think they did a good job."

'Angry' Spain

Spain coach Vilda insisted his "angry" players can shake off the mental scars of the 4-0 mauling and be a force in the knockout stages.

Vilda is confident his squad laden with world-class quality will regroup for Saturday's last-16 clash with Switzerland in Auckland.

"I have no doubt whatsoever that our team is going to react, that the attitude against Switzerland is going to be a different attitude," he said.

"It's the round of 16 at the World Cup and no one should lose hope.

"Mentally, of course, this has done some damage. It hurts, they are angry and I'm convinced that they'll be ready to compete. We will see in five days' time.

"We're not accustomed to this in my time with the team."

Vilda ruefully admired how well Japan coped with his team's trademark possession game, which had been effective in comfortable group wins over Zambia and Costa Rica.

Despite operating with about three-quarters of possession, Spain rarely threatened the goal, while it was repeatedly stung by Japan on the break.

"They got to the ball before we did and they closed every possible space that we had," Vilda said.

"Every time they took the ball away from us they had a counterattack. They started a counterattack with very little effort."

Agencies