Three takeaways from Japan-England

Defending champion Japan returned to the Women’s World Cup final thanks to a 2-1 win over England. After exchanging penalty-kick goals in a first half dominated by the Nadeshiko, the English hadthe better of the second half but fell in stoppage time on an own goal by Laura Bassett. Sunday’s game will mark the first final rematch in Women’s World Cup history: Japan beatthe USA in a shootout tiebreaker after a 2-2 tie in the 2011 final in Germany.