Japan v. England

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Japan v. England

Japan And England Play Out A Thriller

by Jeremy Ruane

A last-gasp equaliser, scored with the very last kick of the game, saw Japan snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat at the Hongkou Football Stadium in Shanghai on September 11, as their opening FIFA Women's World Cup Finals encounter with England concluded in a thrilling 2-2 draw.

The game between teams boasting contrasting styles began in lively fashion. Just 75 seconds in, Rachel Yankey and Eniola Aluko combined to send Karen Carney scampering to the by-line on the right. Rumi Utsugi scrambled clear for Japan, or “Nadeshiko”, as they are nicknamed.

The Asian team's response wasn't long in coming. Inside sixty seconds, Eriko Arakawa - she of the unmissable head of curls - swooped on a slip by England central defender Mary Phillip, whose cause was retrieved by goalkeeper Rachel Brown, who raced off her line to clear on the edge of the penalty area, just as Arakawa closed in for the kill.

A minute later, “Nadeshiko” produced another neat move featuring Arakawa, whose pressure through the middle forced Katie Chapman into a desperate last-gasp challenge. Her clearance found its way to Tomoe Sakai, who threaded a lovely pass through for Arakawa. Despite three defenders closing on her, she managed to unleash a shot which had Brown scrambling as it careered past her left-hand post.

After Brown had capably dealt with a long-range free-kick from Aya Miyama, England began to gain the early ascendancy - Yankey's pace was simply too much for the Japanese to cope with. The Arsenal flyer combined with Aluko to present Kelly Smith with a chance which England's captain thrashed into the side netting.

Japan's measured attacking approach was again exploited by England's counter-attacking prowess in the seventeenth minute. Katie Chapman's clearance sent Smith surging through, and she evaded two challenges before slipping Aluko through Nadeshiko's outnumbered defensive line. The striker shot straight at Miho Fukumoto, Japan's goalkeeper.

Much of what is good about Japan's play usually revolves around Homare Sawa, but their gifted playmaker was being well stifled by England's hard-working midfield trio in this match, sometimes a little too eagerly, as Chapman's booking for a foul on the number ten underlines.

Thus a brief lapse soon afterwards was inevitable, and in that moment, Sawa, with the most audacious of flicks, turned a Tomoe Sakai pass into a goal-threatening situation. Miyama was the beneficiary of her team-mate's inventiveness, and she swiftly picked out Shinobu Ohno ghosting in behind England's defence with her cross. Just as she looked to volley home, the striker's touch let her down - a let off for the Lionesses.

How they sought to make Japan pay for it! A Yankey-inspired raid in the 34th minute culminated in Carney whipping in a cross just beyond Smith's head. Fukumoto grabbed the ball on this occasion, but five minutes later, she was nowhere near as fortunate.

Beforehand, England had gone close again, the pace of Carney and Yankey supplemented by Smith's skill and subtlety on the left. Sakai was outsmarted by it, and yielded the free-kick, which Carney whipped in to the danger zone. Sawa spared Nadeshiko's blushes on this occasion.

In the 39th minute, England should have taken the lead - no question! Smith intercepted a pass, and Japan, pressing forward as they were, suddenly found themselves all over the place in defence. A dinked ball over the top sent Aluko scampering away down the right, and out of goal Fukumoto motored in an attempt to cut out the danger.

Aluko was too quick for her, and hurdled the goalkeeper's challenge just outside the penalty area before looking up to find an open goal yawning in front of her. She pulled the trigger and looked on in horror as the ball curled agonisingly across the face of goal, a glorious chance to open the scoring having gone begging.

And you couldn't help feeling that it was going to be a crucial miss in a group which is already shaping to be a case of which of these teams will join Germany in the quarter-finals, following the Women's World Cup holders' 11-0 demolition of Argentina twenty-four hours previously at the same venue.

Unperturbed, England kept on pounding away into the second spell. Fullback Alex Scott delivered a sumptuous through ball just two minutes into the half, taking out three defenders with a pass made with the outside of the foot.

Carney, who had made a darting run into the penalty area, was the recipient of this invitation to score, but Fukumoto parried the effort at full stretch. Yankey, racing in on the far post, was unable to turn home the rebound.

Aluko's attempts to make amends for her glaring miss began with a magic through ball which sent Smith scooting to the by-line, from where she pulled the ball towards the edge of the penalty area.

Unbelievably, no-one in a white shirt was up in support at that moment, nor was anyone in a blue shirt beating a hasty retreat. Chapman stepped up to the plate, but saw her effort scrambled to safety.

The same player trod a fine line in the 55th minute when fouling Sawa some twenty-five yards out from

goal, right in front. Miyama sized up the situation and liked what she saw, so much so that she promptly smashed a free-kick goal wards.

Brown was completely deceived by the effort as it flashed past her into the net, although a deflection off the defensive wall certainly aided Nadeshiko's cause in that regard. But that mattered not to the Japanese, nor their support crew - they were 1-0 up, albeit a tad against the run of play, to put it mildly.

Red rag to a bull time, because England simply turned up the temperature all the more in response to this setback. Before the hour mark, Carney had crossed from the right for Smith, who gathered the ball in and evaded two challenges before letting fly. Japan's captain, Hiromi Isozaki, took one for the team in blocking this effort, even though it left her requiring treatment after having the wind knocked out of her.

In the 62nd minute, Scott intercepted a Japanese pass and sent Carney bearing down on goal with just Fukumoto to beat inside the penalty area. Incredibly, the speedster shot straight at the goalkeeper, but Nadeshiko's attempts to scramble the rebound to safety got no further than Smith, who, from twenty yards, thundered a shot high into the side netting by Fukumoto's left hand upright, the goalkeeper diving in vain.

The impression was soon forming that it wasn't going to be England's night. It certainly wasn't Aluko's, as was proven in the 64th minute when Carney and Smith combined to present her with a chance which she completely miscued.

Cue the signal for beanpole striker Jill Scott to start warming up, but before she took to the field, action aplenty at both ends had taken place. Smith, in the 66th minute, scampered past a couple of challenges before rewarding Alex Scott's overlapping run.

Her low cross found Yankey storming in on the far post, and she beat Fukumoto all ends up with her shot. Unbelievably, Isozaki was on hand to head off the line, even though she knew very little about it.

Japan scrambled the ball away, and half-time substitute Kozue Ando was the ultimate beneficiary. Steaming forward onto a Sakai pass, she cut in and let fly from twenty-five yards with a sizzling shot which stung Brown's gloves.

Back came England from their goalkeeper's clearance. Carney again led the charge, before picking out Yankey on the far post. Her glancing header flashed past the upright, while Carney herself went close soon afterwards, an adventurous run past four players culminating in a twenty-five yarder which Fukumoto gobbled up greedily.

The English temporarily eased off the throttle, but Japan, who were already holding out for the narrow win, were unable to take advantage themselves. Thus when England came again, this time with the proverbial kitchen sink among their arsenal, Nadeshiko had no answers.

The breakthrough finally came in the 81st minute, and a richly deserved equaliser it was, too. Alex Scott burst out of defence to break up a Japanese passing interchange and instantly sent Carney away.

She threaded the ball through for Smith, who had plenty of work to do as she gathered the sphere on the edge of the penalty area, given two defenders were at close quarters. But she evaded the pair of them and steered the ball wide of Fukumoto and into the net - 1-1.

With Japan reeling from this blow, England sought a second goal, and got it in the 84th minute. Smith was again the source, setting off down the left before riding a challenge on the edge of the penalty area, from where she let fly. Fukumoto parried her effort, but Smith was first to the rebound, and fair smashed home what many thought would be the winning goal.

Incredibly, Japan came back - the character they showed in the final minutes was staggering, given they'd been dealt a real blow by Smith's rapid-fire double-strike so close to the final whistle.

It was epitomised by Arakawa, who collided with Brown in her desperation to get the ball in stoppage time, an incident which saw the goalkeeper requiring treatment. Once administered, she got the ball and promptly through it straight to Japanese substitute Yuki Nagasoto, who, some twenty-five yards from goal, had an open goal to fire into.

Caught by surprise just as much as England by Brown's blunder, Nagasoto failed to take advantage of the situation, but within seconds, a foul on Arakawa by Phillip in almost the same spot from which Japan had scored their first goal presented Nadeshiko with a sniff of an equaliser.

But with time up on the clock, surely lightning couldn't strike twice? Oh yes it could, and how! Miyama stepped up again and smashed a scintillating strike into the top right-hand corner of Brown's goal - 2-2. An incredible finish to a match which made fantastic viewing from a neutral perspective, and saw both teams go through the full spectrum of emotions in a pulsating encounter.

Japan: Fukumoto; Kinga (Ando, 46), Isozaki (Nagasoto, 85), Iwashimizu, Utsugi; Sakai, Sawa, Miyamoto (Hara, 71), Miyama; Arakawa, Ohno

England: Brown; A. Scott (Johnson, 89), White, Phillip, Stoney; Williams, Chapman (booked, 23), Smith (booked, 90); Carney, Aluko (J. Scott, 74), Yankey

Referee: Kari Seitz (USA)

2007