World Cup NOW: Does 5-0 win show Japan is a real threat?
Led by Mina Tanaka and Hinata Miyazawa, the squad looked comfortable against an inexperienced Zambia lineup that took the pitch with their backup goalie. Still, Japan's showing was striking and could be a sign of good things to come.
The "World Cup NOW" crew — Jimmy Conrad, Leslie Osborne and Melissa Ortiz — discussed whether it's wise to go all in on Japan, or whether Zambia's porous performance aided its opponent in the easy victory.
Ortiz: "We saw today out of Japan how organized they were. They stuck to their game plan, and they were really able to use their strengths of being organized. … That's what they used to be known as so much, and then they went through this drought era, but I feel like they found their footing again in today's performance."
Holden: "So wait … Are we thinking really good Japan, or really bad Zambia? Because I will say, as good as Japan were — super dominant, won the game 5-0 — some of the defending I saw tonight from Zambia, and goalkeeping. … They're missing [Hazel] Nali, their starter is out, so then [Catherine] Musonda is out. … And you [Jimmy] picked her in the beginning as your player to watch, because she conceded 18 goals in six games. Well, chalk that up to — she conceded four of the five. … It just doesn't help, especially when your team is pretty disorganized defensively. That's what I was most disappointed with from a Zambia perspective, is … they made it way too easy for Japan. I'm a little cautious to go all in on Japan."
Ortiz: "No, I agree. Fun fact, Zambia has been in camp for over a month straight."
Holden: "Have they been working on defense at all?"
Ortiz: "No."
Conrad: "… There was nothing that was working for them tonight, and I find Japan's performance … a bit deceptive because when we harken back to the SheBelieves Cupp that happened in the U.S., they played against Brazil, lost 1-0, they played against the U.S., lost 1-0. And coming into this tournament … they were struggling to score goals and were dealing with a lot of criticism. But this is one of those cathartic performances where ‘okay, we start with an opponent that’s got a lot of hype coming in,' and that was a very professional performance from Japan. I don't want to say they're back, but that is a strong message that they're sending to everyone else."
Ortiz: "Well, I think one of the things to note also is they went up against Barbara Banda, and Barbara Banda as we've seen has been pretty much unstoppable. … What I want to applaud Japan is how to deal with a striker like Barbara Banda, it means that they were so composed and organized defensively. You saw every time that Barbara got the ball, there were two, even three defenders around her every time. And I think that was obviously part of the game plan, but they stuck to it. They made sure that she was not strong on the ball."
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