Why Japan is the Dark Horse of the Women’s World Cup
Japan holds a piece of World Cup history that no other country left in the competition can stake a claim to. In 2011, led by legend Homare Sawa, Japan pulled off an upset for the ages and defeated the United States. Sawa saved the game in the 117th minute with the game-tying goal before Japan kept their nerves in the shootout and became World Champions. Winning on the world’s biggest stage changes the trajectory of the sport for whoever wins. Japan has developed into the strongest team in Asia, surpassing China as the dominant team in the region. After defeating Spain 4-0 in the Group Stage and dispatching Norway 3-1, no one is talking about Japan enough. Here’s why Japan is the dark horse who can win the World Cup.
Versatility and Adaptability
Japan’s versatility and ability to adapt to whatever the situation is what makes them as strong as they are. A lot of World Cup teams have to rely on their stars to create plays but not Japan. Everyone is willing to make the extra pass when necessary, no one dribbles for too long, they share the ball openly, and it doesn’t matter how they win. Their federation deserves a ton of credit for instilling this kind of culture. It allows for a cohesive unit to attack and expose a team’s weaknesses and take away their strengths.
For example, in their last game against Norway, they knew that Caroline Graham Hansen and Guro Reiten created most of the chances. Whether it’s on the counterattack or through set pieces, those were going to be Norway’s best chances to score. While it wasn’t perfect, and Reiten equalized in the first half, they locked things up the rest of the way. When you play without fouling, just six over the 90 minutes, and give Norway just one corner kick chance, you’re limiting the number of chances they have to come back from a 3-1 deficit.
They have skilled players who can keep the ball, and they have players who can sit back and defend while being deadly on the counter. The 4-0 win over Spain was a masterclass in how to defeat their possession style. Not only have they defended well, but they are clinical in their finishing. Japan has not shown a single weakness to this point.
Winning Streak
They’d won three of their last four games before the tournament, and they have yet to lose at this World Cup. The federation should have plenty of confidence knowing they’ve gotten to the World Cup Final in two of the prior three competitions. Plus, they are used to playing in this region. They Australia regularly as a part of Asia, whereas all the other teams left don’t make trips to Australia often, if at all. They’re comfortable playing in the land down under, and it shows.
Expect Japan to come up with the best tactical strategy to attack Sweden and keep the number of free kicks and corners to a minimum. If they do that and Japan’s finishing is as good as it’s been, they’ll be able to advance to the semis and maybe even the final. Japan isn’t being talked about enough, but they will be soon.
Featured image via @japanfootballassociation on Instagram
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