A brilliant free kick by Aya Miyama with five seconds left gave Japan a 2-2 draw with England in the opening game for both in Group A of the women's World Cup yesterday.
The result throws open the fight for one of the two top spots in the group and a chance to advance to the quarter-finals.
It was the second goal scored off a free kick by Miyama in the game and matched two impressive individual goals by England's Kelly Smith.
With England trailing 1-0 with 10 minutes left, Smith beat two defenders at the edge of the box to smash a low, hard shot past Japan goalkeeper Miho Fukumoto.
Two minutes later she rode a tackle inside the box, then knocked in the rebound after Fukumoto saved her first shot.
England, who deserved to win after outplaying Japan for most of the game, went behind early in the second half when Miyama dipped a 25m free kick over the wall into the right corner beyond the reach of Rachel Brown.
Her second goal was from 30m.
England dominated most of the second half and created at least half a dozen clear-cut chances, only to be denied by Fukumoto or unlucky finishing.
With defending champion Germany, who demolished Argentina 11-0 on Monday, in the group, both teams were eager for a win to keep up.
In a double-header on Friday, England will play Germany and Japan will meet Argentina.
In the other Women's World Cup group stage result yesterday, it was:
GROUP B
Nigeria 1, Sweden 1
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB