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Japan 2-0 Costa Rica: 2011 champions on brink of Women's World Cup last 16 after win

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Aoba Fujino
Hosts: Australia and New Zealand Dates: 20 July-20 August
Coverage: Live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website & app. Full coverage details; latest news

Japan are on the verge of qualifying for the Fifa Women’s World Cup round of 16 after a routine 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.

Japan will be the first side to secure their place in knockout stages, if Spain earn at least a point against Zambia later.

Costa Rica will be eliminated from the World Cup if Spain avoid defeat.

Japan get the job done

Since stunning the football world by beating the United States in the 2011 final, Japan have underwhelmed on the global stage.

But following the Tokyo Olympics – where Japan were eliminated in the quarter-finals on home soil – Futoshi Ikeda was appointed manager and has put together a side which has impressed with its attacking, possession-focused football.

Japan will face much tougher tests than Costa Rica and Zambia in their opening game, and they will need to be more clinical than they were at Dunedin Stadium. However, two wins and seven goals cannot be ignored.

This game was settled by 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.

Solera shines but Costa Rica outclassed

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.

Player of the match

SugitaHina Sugita

with an average of 8.15

Japan

  1. Squad number6Player nameSugita

    Average rating

    8.15

  2. Squad number15Player nameFujino

    Average rating

    8.13

  3. Squad number4Player nameKumagai

    Average rating

    7.52

  4. Squad number8Player nameNaomoto

    Average rating

    7.45

  5. Squad number11Player nameTanaka

    Average rating

    7.36

  6. Squad number7Player nameMiyazawa

    Average rating

    7.00

  7. Squad number2Player nameShimizu

    Average rating

    7.00

  8. Squad number10Player nameNagano

    Average rating

    6.68

  9. Squad number14Player nameHasegawa

    Average rating

    6.67

  10. Squad number3Player nameMinami

    Average rating

    6.65

  11. Squad number17Player nameSeike

    Average rating

    6.60

  12. Squad number16Player nameHayashi

    Average rating

    6.50

  13. Squad number9Player nameUeki

    Average rating

    6.22

  14. Squad number5Player nameMiyake

    Average rating

    5.96

  15. Squad number19Player nameMoriya

    Average rating

    5.73

  16. Squad number1Player nameYamashita

    Average rating

    5.50

Costa Rica

  1. Squad number23Player nameSolera

    Average rating

    6.52

  2. Squad number15Player nameGranados

    Average rating

    5.45

  3. Squad number2Player nameGuillén

    Average rating

    5.19

  4. Squad number9Player nameSalas

    Average rating

    5.14

  5. Squad number10Player nameVillalobos

    Average rating

    5.00

  6. Squad number7Player nameHerrera

    Average rating

    5.00

  7. Squad number12Player nameElizondo

    Average rating

    4.82

  8. Squad number11Player nameRodríguez

    Average rating

    4.80

  9. Squad number21Player nameScott

    Average rating

    4.73

  10. Squad number16Player nameAlvarado

    Average rating

    4.67

  11. Squad number3Player nameCoto

    Average rating

    4.56

  12. Squad number4Player nameBenavides

    Average rating

    4.50

  13. Squad number14Player nameChinchilla

    Average rating

    4.40

  14. Squad number20Player nameVillalobos

    Average rating

    4.18

Line-ups

Japan

Formation 3-4-2-1

1Yamashita

5Miyake4Kumagai3Minami

2Shimizu14Hasegawa16Hayashi6Sugita

15Fujino8Naomoto

11Tanaka

  • 1Yamashita
  • 5Miyake
  • 4Kumagai
  • 3Minami
  • 2ShimizuSubstituted forMoriyaat 90+1′minutes
  • 14Hasegawa
  • 16HayashiSubstituted forNaganoat 74′minutes
  • 6Sugita
  • 15FujinoSubstituted forMiyazawaat 59′minutes
  • 8NaomotoSubstituted forSeikeat 74′minutes
  • 11TanakaSubstituted forUekiat 59′minutes

Substitutes

  • 7Miyazawa
  • 9Ueki
  • 10Nagano
  • 12Takahashi
  • 13Endo
  • 17Seike
  • 18Tanaka
  • 19Moriya
  • 20Hamano
  • 21Hirao
  • 22Chiba
  • 23Ishikawa

Costa Rica

Formation 4-4-1-1

23Solera

3Coto20Villalobos4Benavides12Elizondo

7Herrera15Granados16Alvarado2Guillén

9Salas

14Chinchilla

  • 23Solera
  • 3Coto
  • 20Villalobos
  • 4Benavides
  • 12Elizondo
  • 7Herrera
  • 15GranadosSubstituted forRodríguezat 64′minutes
  • 16Alvarado
  • 2GuillénSubstituted forVillalobosat 45′minutes
  • 9SalasSubstituted forScottat 76′minutes
  • 14ChinchillaBooked at 85mins

Substitutes

  • 1Pérez
  • 5del Campo
  • 6Sánchez
  • 8Campos
  • 10Villalobos
  • 11Rodríguez
  • 13Valenciano
  • 17Varela
  • 18Tapia
  • 19Pinell
  • 21Scott
  • 22Estrada
Referee:
Maria Ferrieri Caputi

Attendance:
6,992

Match Stats

Live Text

Post update

Match ends, Japan 2, Costa Rica 0.

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