Japan finally looked alive, compared to their previous match against Argentina. Japan was aggressive and held the ball on their attacking half for most of the game. That being said, this group hasn’t been decided yet. If Japan does get at least one point from England, they will advance, but if they don’t, they risk Argentina making a surprise entry into the Round of 16.
Overall, this was a really good game from Japan. They came out ready to take the match from Scotland and succeeded. Despite only having 50% of the possession, Scotland’s time on the ball was not as effective as Japan’s. Japan had 18 shots, 6 on target, Scotland had 2/3rds of that.
The first goal came in the 23rd minute after Yuika Sugasawa lost the ball in Scotland’s box, Jun Endo picked it up and passed it to an unmarked Mana Iwabuchi. Iwabuchi took a touch and hit the ball at Scotland keeper Lee Alexander. The ball goes in, right above the keeper, it looks like Scotland defender Jennifer Beattie blocks her viewing angle for the shot, which resulted in the delayed reaction from Alexander.
Thirteen minutes later, Japan went up 2-0 off a soft penalty call. Sugasawa followed an over-the-top ball into the box and Scottish defender and captain Rachel Corsie went with her. Corsie put her hands on Sugasawa’s shoulders and, once the Japanese striker felt those hands, she went down. The Ethiopian referee immediately called the foul and pointed to the spot. After a clinical finish, Sugasawa fooled Alexander, who dove to her left, and the striker guided the ball into the right-hand corner.
The rest of the half was all Japan, who dominated offensively, but in the second half, Scotland came ready to make a comeback.
The Scots finally got on the board in the 88th minute. Japan started to relax defensively throughout this half, culminating in a reckless giveaway by Nana Ichise. Either she tried to pass it to Risa Shimizu and put too much power on it, or she tried to send it to Saki Kumagai and didn’t put enough. Either way, though, the ball was nowhere near a Japanese player, but instead straight to the Scottish substitute, Lana Clelland. Clelland smashed the ball right under the crossbar, giving Scotland their only goal of this game.
All-in-all a very good performance by Japan, with a single careless mistake that took away their shutout. Scotland really struggled against this aggressive Japanese side, and, if Japan continues to play like this, more teams will face the same fight that Scotland did.
