It’s becoming the biggest question at this Women’s World Cup — how do you stop Japan?
Zambia definitely couldn’t do it, and lost 5-0. Costa Rica had a stab, and lost 2-0. More surprisingly, Spain completely failed, losing 4-0. And the latest victims of Japan’s slick, cohesive passing and movement are Norway, who were defeated 3-1 in this round-of-16 game in Wellington.
The biggest issue when facing Japan is how to cope with what effectively becomes a five-player attack — three proper forwards, and two wing-backs. Not many sides still left in this competition are using a back three but those that are — the Netherlands, Japan and (in their final group game) England — are all looking good.
Japan, though, play their system better than anyone else in the competition, particularly with that front five. Mina Tanaka, the centre-forward, drops deep to receive passes to feet. The other two attackers, Aoba Fujino and Hinata Miyazawa, are both capable of drifting between the lines or running in behind. Jun Endo and Risa Shimizu, the wing-backs, stretch the play and end up in goalscoring positions too.
Charged with stopping that front five, Norway manager Hege Riise decided she needed to use a system that ended up with a back five, which made sense. Her precise tactic, though,…
