Japan reach Women’s World Cup quarters

Agencies VANCOUVER, June 24 Defending champion Nadeshiko Japan reached the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over tournament debutant the Netherlands. Saori Ariyoshi opened the scoring with her first goal of the tournament in the 10th minute and Mizuho Sakaguchi grabbed a late second to take Norio Sasaki’s side a step closer to defending its title. The Dutch pulled one back in injury time after Japan goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori fluffed a header from Kirsten Van de Ven. Japan will face Australia in the quarterfinals in Edmonton on Saturday. “As always, we kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Sorry about that,” Japan manager Norio Sasaki said. “But we’re picking it up, game by game. Your opponents are going to come after you if you have the lead so I’m not too concerned about the late pressure we faced. What matters is keeping your cool and finding a way to navigate those situations. We didn’t let them create, maybe apart from the corners. At last, we’re in the last eight.” Australia, beaten 1-0 by Japan in the Women’s Asian Cup final in May last year, stunned Brazil 1-0 on Sunday to book its spot in the quarters.Japan, winner of first-round Group C, is looking to become only the second team to win back-to-back World Cups, a feat only Germany has pulled off in 2003 and 2007. “We know each other inside out,” captain Aya Miyama said of the Matidas. “I’m expecting it to be a good, tough game. We still need to sort out our defense and we had to survive a few scares along the way. It probably would have been better if we didn’t concede at the end, but we’ll take it as a lesson and learn from it.” The Netherlands, which finished third in Group A, made a promising start and Sherida Spitse fired over before Manon Melis squandered a great chance when she lost her footing and failed to connect a after a fabulous through ball from Lieke Martens. That miss was punished as the Japanese took the lead. Yuki Ogimi headed Miyama’s cross against the bar and Merel Van Dongen could only half-clear the loose ball, which Ariyoshi snapped up to drill into the right-hand corner. The Dutch nearly hit back seconds later, with Martens inches away from getting on the end of Melis’ cross. Japan enjoyed further chances and Shinobu Ono will feel she might have done better with a free header she steered wide with the last play of the first half. The Dutch pressed hard for an equalizer after the break but the Japanese could have doubled their lead on 54 minutes, Nahomi Kawasumi having her cross deflected behind for a corner, when shooting looked a better option. Kaihiori had little to do for long stretches of the match but she pulled off a fine reaction save after a corner came off teammate Aya Sameshima, and moments later Japan went 2-0 up. Ogimi fed Miyama, who laid a ball back to the edge of the area for Sakaguchi to sweep home after a dummy from substitute Mana Iwabuchi. Kaihori was left red-faced when a seemingly innocuous header from Van de Ven hit her shoulder and then the back of the net in the 92nd minute, but redeemed herself later with a good stop as the Japanese held on in a tight finish. “We managed to score the first goal like we had hoped to, but things got tough later on,” Sakaguchi said. “We need to really prepare for the next one.”