Japan registered a convincing win over Costa Rica in the second group stage of their world cup campaign at the Dunedin stadium. The Futoshi Ikeda-coached side displayed some quality performances on the pitch to bag their second consecutive win in two games so far in this world cup.
The Japanese side was undoubtedly the better of the two sides throughout the game. They enjoyed 57 perfect ball possession and attempted 24 shots in total in comparison to Costa Rica’s 6. Following this win, Japan now are at the top of their group’s table with 6 points to their name in 2 games. Costa Rica on the other hand is almost out of the tournament with no points in their account after 2 games already.
The game began with both sides seeking opportunities to attack the opponent’s goal constantly. Neither of the two sides seemed to find their rhythm early on in the match. It was however Japan who made things happen for themselves first as they opened the scoring in the 25th minute.
The side finally found the breakthrough that it had been chasing for the past 10 minutes or so when Hikari Naomoto took advantage of Coto’s slip to round her and followed it up with a precise shot past Solera. The goalkeeper did get her hands to the shot but failed to party it to safety as Japan took the lead. It took just a couple more minutes for Japan to double their lead.
Also Read: FIFA Women’s World Cup – Philippines vs New Zealand – Match Report
Some dreamy stuff from Fujino had Costa Rica on the backfoot as the 19-year-old danced her way past a defender on the right flank and cut inside the box to unleash a shot that beat Solera comfortably. Tanaka had two assists in two minutes as Japan were in the driver’s seat. Japan continued their attempts to add to Costa Rica’s misery but failed. Tanaka squandered a chance when she missed her attempt from an appealing angle from close range.
The second half saw both sides make use of their substitutional changes at the one-hour mark. The idea certainly was to strengthen their grip over the game from Japan’s point of view. Costa Rica meanwhile were looking to find a way to turn things around after a disastrous first half.
Japan did create a fair amount of chances from the set piece deliveries but none of them were successfully converted to a goal. More players being subbed off for fresh legs towards the later half of the game even slowed down the game’s pace as neither of the two sides seemingly made any attempts to score. FT:- Japan 2-0 Costa Rica.
Japan shall next be facing Spain on Monday. Meanwhile, Costa Rica shall be taking on Zambia in their final upcoming group-stage match.
