Saori Ariyoshi and Mizuho Sakaguchi scored to put defending champions Japan through to a quarter-final showdown with Australia by beating the Netherlands 2-1 at the Women’s World Cup on Tuesday.
Japan controlled their last-16 game from the outset with defender Ariyoshi scoring her first goal for the Nadeshiko after 10 minutes and midfielder Sakaguchi getting the second after 78 minutes.
Kirsten van de Ven headed in a consolation for the 12th-ranked Netherlands two minutes into stoppage-time, helped by an error by Japan goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori, who let the ball slip through her grasp.
Photo: AP
“We lost against a really good Japanese team,” Netherlands coach Roger Reijners said. “If we hadn’t had such strong opposition we might have gotten something out of it. They are world champions and have great players.”
Japan coach Norio Sasaki admitted his world No. 4 side, the only team to have won every match so far, should have closed the game down earlier.
“We probably could have had better control of the ball, but we had a tense moment,” Sasaki said. “We ended every attack with a shot on goal. That was the key. I’m sorry we kept you in suspense until the end.”
Photo: AFP
The champions overpowered the Netherlands from the outset and could have been further ahead at halftime.
Japan took the lead when Ariyoshi scored from inside the area 10 minutes into the game.
Aya Sameshima missed a golden opportunity for a second after 22 minutes, shooting over the bar from close range, and further chances also went astray, with Shinobu Ohno firing over just before the break.
After the break, Mandy van den Berg almost inadvertently scored an own-goal off Nahomi Kawasumi’s cross.
Sakaguchi had a shot blocked in the 67th minute and defender Aya Sameshima was saved by a superb block by Kaihori from a close range effort from Van de Ven on 76 minutes.
However, two minutes later, Sakaguchi got the winner from the edge of the penalty area, with a last-gasp effort from Vivianne Miedema failing to get an equalizer.
“Aya Miyama passed to me. I thought I should try even if it’s not my strong point,” Sakaguchi said.
Sasaki said his side’s game had been helped by the heavily watered artificial turf at BC Place Stadium.
“We actually ran the most today on this pitch. There was a lot of water and we could run very well. I’m going to ask maintenance to keep it watered so the game can move fast. It’s better for both teams,” he said.
The Netherlands needed a win to book their ticket to next year’s Rio Olympics along with Germany and France, but could now face a playoff for the third remaining European berth.
In other last-eight fixtures, top-ranked Germany play third-ranked France in Montreal tomorrow, while China take on Olympic champions the US in Ottawa and hosts Canada clash with England in Vancouver on Saturday.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but