By Ivan Yeo
It will go down as perhaps the cruelest and most crushing end to a Women’s World Cup game.
One minute, you think you’re headed for overtime, prolonging your chances of trying to reach the championship final. However, one mistake enables your opponent to escape with the win and your World Cup hopes go down in infamy.
That is what happened to England in its semifinal match against Japan in Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. English defender Laura Bassett made a routine defensive play on a forward ball, but a bad deflection resulted in an own goal and Japan had escaped with the 2-1 win.
The win sends Japan onto the final for a second straight time, and sure enough, awaiting them in Vancouver will be the United States, who will surely be looking for some payback after losing the 2011 final to the Nadeshiko. England meanwhile tries to recover from the trauma of losing in such heartbreaking fashion and prepare for Saturday’s third match against Germany. While they will have only two days to recover before the match, they will not have to travel at all, as the game is in Edmonton.
The deciding moment in the match came in stoppage time with the match knotted at one. Overtime seemed certain, but Japan made one last charge to try and steal the match in regular time. Nahomi Kawasumi played a ball into the penalty area, towards Yuki Ogimi. Bassett got her right foot on the cross, but the deflection went high and forward, keeper Karen Bardsley was unable to get to the ball, which hit off the crossbar and crossed the goal line.
Both teams traded penalties in the first half. Japan was the first to go to the penalty spot in the 31st minute when Saori Ariyoshi chased down a long ball played from the back. Claire Rafferty gave chase, Ariyoshi continued forward, Rafferty pushed down Ariyoshi from behind and the referee immediately gave Japan the penalty.
However just like yesterday’s U.S.-Germany match, where Alex Morgan won a penalty even though she appeared to be fouled just outside the box, Rafferty’s push on Ariyoshi also appeared to take place outside the box, but the call to the penalty spot stood, and Aya Miyama buried the shot to stake Japan to the lead.
England though got its redemption later in the half. Things started in the 39th minute, as Lucy Bronze sent a corner kick into the Japanese penalty area, Stephaie Houghton got the ball, tried to go forward, Ogimi made contact with Houghton at her foot, the referee made the call for England to go to the spot, and Fara Williams converted the penalty to tie the match.
England had the best chances in the second half. The first came in the 62nd minute, as Toni Duggan attempted a shot near the top of the box, but it bounced off the crossbar and harmlessly back into play. Two minutes later, Ellen White attempted a shot from a similar position, but Japanese keeper Ayumi Kaihori parried the shot out of danger.
