Japan shows off U.S. traits in victory
- by Ridge Mahoney @ridgemax, Jul 18, 2011
[WOMEN'S WORLD CUP SPOTLIGHT] Aside from committing a last-minute foul that robbed U.S. forward Alex Morgan of a chance
to win the game, Japan captured the 2011 Women’s World Cup final with heroism and determination.
Unable for much of the match to ignite its flowing attacking style of cohesive,
interconnected possessions spiced with an occasional long ball, Japan chased and battled to stave off a blowout. Not until well into the second half did it gain a grip in midfield, and by then the
Americans had hit the woodwork twice and peppered Japan’s goal without reward. But never did its players panic, look flustered, or let their spirits droop.
Paired up top and
supplied by sharp, inventive work from midfield, Abby Wambach and Lauren Cheney stormed into the Japanese penalty area
but failed to score. Wambach launched a searing shot from outside the box that rattled the crossbar, and Cheney glided free to loop a running header a foot high.
Unable to contain the
flank insurgencies of Megan Rapinoe and Heather O’Reilly nor the central probing of Carli Lloyd and Shannon Boxx, Japan seldom crossed the halfway line until halftime. Rapinoe broke free several times, once to play a near-post
ball that Cheney re-directed just wide, and again to crash a shot off the outside of the post from a severe angle.
Captain Homare Sawa stayed deep
in vain effort to hold the middle secure and rarely did a telling ball get out to left mid Aya Miyama or reach frontrunners Kozue Ando and Shinobu Ohno, both of whom were substituted midway through the second half.
The entrance of Yuki Nagasato and Karina Maruyama came as Japan began to get more of the ball, but ironically, one of its best attacks up to that point came with
a high cost. Just a few minutes after that double switch, halftime sub Alex Morgan -- Cheney was forced off with an ankle injury suffered early in the game --
broke open the deadlock with her second goal of the tournament. Morgan had hit the post just minutes into the second half and in the 69th minute she made Japan pay for its inability to contain her.
The American capacity to counter had already yielded goals in this tournament, and when the ball rolled free from a cluster of U.S. players near the edge of their own penalty area, Rapinoe
lofted a long ball down the middle that a sprinting Morgan cushioned with her head. She then veered past defender Saki Kumagai and nailed a low, left-footed
shot that keeper Ayumi Kaihori dived for but couldn’t reach.
In most other games, against most other teams, the Americans would either have
held the lead or increased it, as it had done after getting ahead of North Korea and Colombia in the group stage and France in the semifinals. But instead, Japan matched the USA’s feat against
Brazil of coming back not once, but twice.
Brazil had capitalized on sloppy defending to score one of its goals against the USA and a botched clearance did in the Americans again. Rachel Buehler lunged to block a ball served into the six-yard box for Maruyama, and while on the ground tried to boot it clear, but instead pinged it off teammate
Ali Krieger a few yards away. Miyama knocked the gift opportunity past goalie Hope Solo to tie it, 1-1, in the 81st
minute.
Granted a reprieve, Japan finally found the angles and spaces to stitch together passing sequences, yet poor service with the final pass continued to plague its forward moves. The
American attack was still clicking, and Morgan pierced Japan’s back line once again to smack a shot off the post. Roaming to both sides of the field with Wambach pivoting off her runs, Morgan
ran rampant.
Near the end of the first overtime, Morgan linked up with Rapinoe to threaten as Japan failed to close down its right corner. It fended off one combination play, but in the
104th minute, Morgan got a foot of space on right back Yukari Kinga and from near the end line drove a clothesline cross that Kumagai couldn’t reach and
Wambach leaned into with a powerful header.
With the turnaround between extra periods came yet more drama as Japan refused to buckle. Miyama and Sawa served balls that Solo and her
defenders scrambled to clear. Solo needed some attention when she missed a cross and a bad mix-up between Lloyd and Rapinoe nearly provided Japan with a second garbage goal.
Sundhage used
a second sub in the 114th minute. By sending on Tobin Heath for Rapinoe, Sundhage removed one of the five players who had successfully converted a penalty kick
against Brazil in the quarterfinals. The Americans would soon rue that rate of exchange.
Heath’s entrance added a dose of fresh energy to the left side that mirrored the relentless
work of Heather O’Reilly on the opposite flank. So Japan tested the middle; right back Kinga raced onto one such serve only to shank her shot, but on a
second attempt, she drew out Solo to clip a ball towards goal that captain Christie Rampone hacked over the end line when she perhaps had enough time to more
calmly play it upfield or over the sideline.
Miyama’s drove an inswinger to the near-post edge of the goal area and Sawa’s darting run got her there a step ahead of Buehler to
flick a shot with the outside of her right foot. It glanced off Wambach, standing about midway between Sawa and the goal, and Solo’s desperate flap couldn’t nick it. And still it was far
from over.
After Japan equalized, Wambach evaded Japan’s center backs to volley an O’Reilly cross well over the bar from close range. Yet another attack yielded a ball to
Morgan in the penalty arc amidst a stretched Japan back line; Azusa Iwashimizu’s slide tackle missed the ball and uprooted Morgan. German referee Bibiana Steinhaus showed Iwashimizu a straight red card; with the ball a yard outside the penalty area, Lloyd angled her free kick angled away from the wall; it
produced only a Heath follow-up attempt that was blocked.
For the penalty kicks, Japan coach Norio Sasaki gathered all of his players in a circle,
and smiled throughout his exhortations. The U.S. sent out Boxx and Lloyd for the first two kicks. Both had converted against Brazil, but Boxx put her shot down the middle and Kaihori kicked it away
with her trailing foot as she dove left. Miyama converted for a 1-0 lead, and then Lloyd, who had misfired several times with her shots yet otherwise played a solid game, skied a terrible miss well
over the bar. Solo stopped Yuki Nagasato to keep the deficit to one kick; her teammates couldn’t seize the initiative.
On the third U.S.
attempt, Heath hit a good low drive but Kaihori had guessed right and parried it at full stretch. Solo also guessed correctly but Mizuho Sakaguchi’s shot
caromed under her glove and into the net. On that occasion, as occurred often on this night of close calls and near-things, inches of difference might as well have been yards.
Wambach
converted to cut Japan’s lead to 2-1, but Kumagai smashed a high shot over Solo’s dive for unassailable 3-1 advantage. By knocking off host Germany in the quarterfinals with an extra-time
goal, Japan forged its resolve; with a greater triumph of will and skill, it wrote the final chapter of an epic journey.
Garbage goal??? If such terms are to be used, then "garbage defending", "garbage missed goals", not to mention "garbage ball handling skills" all on part of the Americans should be added. Every goal counts equally. BTW,
Buehler did not lose this game, the whole team did..
Having watched every USA game and many of the other games, it's time to get off the mantra that the USA just relies and athleticism and size and all these other teams are technically superior. It's just not true. Do the US talent scouts put too much emphasis on size, absolutely, but I did not see technically superior teams in Brazil, France or Japan. Very few women are top level creative players, and the US seems to be the equal of these other countries in the technical sense. Is the US style of play different, yes, but their level of play is not. The US team had the best finishers as I found France and Japan to be inept in this regard. I would rather be critical of the coaching decisions made during the Japan game, taking Rapinoe out- big mistake. Wambaugh takes the first PK and sets the tone, Morgan takes the 2nd- you can see what players step up in the moment and which ones step back.
Shameful display of soccer showing how poorly we can pass the ball to the other team. Let the young kids come in and show them how to score goals and PK's.
If we had only played "possession" soccer for the last few minutes of time we would have been the WC winners w/o having to go to PKs, unfortunately our lack of skill in the most basic area of technical skills, passing, killed our opportunity.
It’s a bold writer to call the Japanese goal ‘garbage’. I would think the Japanese could take offense. It was tenacity and desperation that produced the conditions that lead to the first goal. The second goal was superb.
None are giving Sawa proper credit. She’s the Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner of the tournament! Can she really be marked by Buehler or ANY back for an entire game? The TEAM lost the game [with some help from the woodwork + football Gods], and not Buehler/Lloyd/Boxx/etc. Credit Japan for not panicking and mostly staying with a technical/possession game. Double credit to them; some of those Japanese players didn’t even have a field to practice on because of the earthquake.
Good summary of what was a great game. Just a couple of quibbles. The first Japanese goal, while you term it a "garbage goal", resulted from sustained and incisive passing by the Japanese. You put the ball in the box like they did and good things may happen. And Miyama had to be there--and was. Also, no one in any account (certainly not here) mentions that Japan was robbed of a clear goal scoring opportunity by yet another botched offsides call. Something must be done about this. Lotta Schelin could have been in contention for the golden boot award with the goals and opportunities she was denied by bad offsides calls (3 by my count). Finally, am I the only one who thought that Iwashimizu's sending-off was a bit harsh? She appeared to get the ball. It's not as if she cynically brought the attacker down when she had no chance at the ball.
Here's another trait of the US that the Japanese women's team uses- going after physically imposing players. It's a misconception that the US team is full of Amazons- take out the GK's (who I do want to be Giants) and Wambach, and here is what you have left:
1 player at 5'4"
5 at 5'5"
4 at 5'6"
4 at 5'7"
3 at 5'8'
While Japan had
4 at 5'1"
1 at 5'2"
3 at 5'3"
6 at 5'4"
2 at 5'5"
2 at 5'6"
1 at 5'7" (SAWA)
Statistically, the USA's height advantage reflects the general population. Japan's average woman is 5'2" and USA is 5'4". Japan's team was 1.5" taller than their average and ours was 1.8" taller or 2.1" if you include Wambach. The average German woman is 5'5" and their soccer team's average height was 5'7". It's freakanomics. Japan has not taken a smaller and skilled approach - Japan looks for the best female soccer players and their best players are superior physically than their average woman, just like the US and just like Germany- maybe it's no coincidence that Sawa is 5'7" and is 5 inches taller than the average Japanese woman.
Uh, David, FIFA web site has Homare Sawa at 5' 4.5". The only 5'7" ones are the top keeper Kaihori and central defender Kumigai. And "taller" is not synonymous with "physically superior". Ramon - agree there are too many onside players flagged for phantom offside. this has been a problem for decades - FIFA directive to favor the attacker is consistently ignored.
Most Japanese would be quite surprised to find out that their perseverance is a result of borrowing from us Yanks.