Izuchukwu Okosi
Asian heavyweights Japan on Wednesday morning moved a step closer to booking their place in the round of 16 stage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with a 2-0 win over Costa Rica.
Hikaru Naomoto and Aoba Fujino both scored in the space of three first-half minutes to ease the 2011 champions to three points.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelJapan became the first side to secure their place in knockout stages as Spain, as was expected, beat Zambia.
Consequently, Costa Rica was eliminated from the World Cup as Spain eventually avoided defeat against the Africans.
Since stunning the football world by beating the United States in the 2011 final, Japan have underwhelmed on the global stage.
Japan were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2020 Olympics on home soil ultimately leading to the appointment of Futoshi Ikeda who has put together a side which has impressed with its attacking, possession-focused football.
In the 27th minute – first Naomoto found the far left corner with a low shot from the left of the box, before Fujino shrugged off a tackle on the right wing, cut into the box and beat keeper Daniela Solera at the near post for her first Japan goal.
It was a moment of redemption for Fujino following a bizarre incident on 15 minutes where she prevented team-mate Risa Shimizu scoring with an inadvertent sliding tackle as both went to finish a chance.
Costa Rica were outclassed here just as they were in their opening loss to Spain.
Nervous in possession, they were not technically able enough to play out from the back and inaccurate with long balls, constantly ceding possession to their opponents.
Solera – who has now made a tournament-high 19 stops at this World Cup – was once again the only factor between Costa Rica and a truly embarrassing scoreline.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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