Women’s World Cup Team’ Japan was blocked by ‘Nordic Power’ Sweden’s iron wall.
The Japanese women’s soccer team lost to Sweden 1-2 in the quarterfinals of the FIFA 2023 Australia-New Zealand Women’s World Cup held at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand on the 11th at 4:30 pm (Korean time).안전놀이터
Japan struggled against Sweden’s strong physicality from the first half. In the round of 16, Sweden defeated the world’s No. 1 “defending champ,” the United States, in an extra-time penalty shootout, overcoming a major crisis and becoming stronger.
On the other hand, Japan, which won 3 matches in the group stage with 11 goals and no goals, won 4-0 against Spain and won 1st place in the group, and won 3-1 against Norway in the round of 16. 1 In physical fights, he was often pushed back and failed to show his unique mobility.
Eventually, in the 32nd minute of the first half, Amanda Ilistet was shaken by allowing the first goal of the tournament. After that, it was the atmosphere of Sweden. In the 42nd minute of the first half, Aslani’s shot hit the post and narrowly missed the goal line. It was Japan’s luck. The first half ended 0-1.
As the second half started, Japan coach Futoshi Iketa replaced Hina Sujita with Jun Endo to reinforce the left flank. However, a crisis came from the beginning of the second half. In the 4th minute of the second half, right after the corner kick, the ball grazed Nagano Fuka’s arm in a chaotic situation. Right after the VAR review, the referee declared a penalty kick with a handball foul. ‘Man City ace’ Flipa Angeldahl shook the net lightly and took a 2-0 lead. Immediately after conceding, Mina Tanaka was replaced by Riko Ueki. By the 20th minute of the second half, Sweden had 11 shots and 6 shots on target, but Japan only had 1 shot.
After the middle of the second half, Japan’s struggle for a comeback goal continued. In the 22nd minute of the second half, Hasegawa’s shot went over the crossbar. In the 25th minute of the second half, Aoba’s shot was blocked by Sweden’s ‘spider hand’ Zekira Mussovich. Japan’s struggle to dig into the box has borne fruit. In the 29th minute of the second half, Madeleine Yanowi knocked over Ueki, and a penalty kick was declared. In the 31st minute of the second half, Ueki’s shot aimed at the top of the goal hit the crossbar and missed. A crucial opportunity was missed. In the 35th minute of the second half, Miyazawa Hinata was replaced by Seike Kiko and Nagano Fuka was replaced by Hayashi Hotoka, making the final decision.
In the 10th minute of extra time, a hot chase followed, and Japan quickly scored 11 shots. The sluggish first half and the missed penalty kick were painful. In the end, Japan lost to Sweden 1-2. At the same time as Sweden advanced to the semifinals, the Swedish group Abba’s ‘Mamma Mia’ victory song rang hotly in the stadium.
After winning the German tournament in 2011 and finishing runner-up in the Canadian tournament in 2015, Japan, which stayed in the round of 16 in the French tournament in 2019, showed near-perfect performance and solid organization in every game with a successful generational change in this tournament, enough to be pointed out as a ‘champion candidate’ by major foreign media. They received attention as the ‘team of the blast’, but ended up stopping in the quarterfinals without being able to cross the Swedish wall. While all previous World Cup winners, such as the United States, Germany, and Japan, have been eliminated, Sweden will compete against Spain in the semifinals on the 15th.
