Japan v USA – Paris Olympics women’s football quarter-finals – live updates
Key events
1 minute: The American defenders seem a bit shaky moving the ball around under pressure from Japan. Nerves?
Kick-off: USA all white, Japan all blue. Shirts, shorts, socks. Consistent.
Competition Directors
Be warned: as a very low-level referee, I usually forgive officials for overlooking fouls in the heat of the moment, but I have little patience for problems with basic mechanics, such as forgetting to penalize players for delaying a restart.
Referee: Tess Olofsson (SWE)
AR1: Almira Spahic (SWE)
AR2: Francesca di Monte (ITA)
VAR: Ivan Bebek (CRO)
USA setup
Goalkeeper: A stunning surprise selection here for… no, I’m kidding, it’s Alyssa Naeher (Chicago)
Defense (from left to right): Crystal Dunn (Gotham FC), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC), Naomi Girma (San Diego), Emily Fox (Arsenal/ENG)
Midfield: Korbin Albert (PSG/FRA) probably in sixth place, Lindsey Horan (Lyon/FRA) probably in eighth place and Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC) probably in tenth place. Or thereabouts.
Forward (left to right): Sophia Smith (Portland), Mallory Swanson (Chicago), Trinity Rodman (Washington)
Albert replaces the suspended Sam Coffey and scored a screamer in the group stage. Sonnett replaces the injured Tierna Davidson, who is not on the substitutes list today. Given the absurdly limited selections in this competition, the only outfield players Emma Hayes has at her disposal are defenders Casey Krueger, Jenna Nighswonger and Emily Sams, and attackers Lynn Williams and Jaedyn Shaw.
One option if Hayes needs attacking options in the closing stages is Crystal Dunn is listed as a forward and has proven to be world class in that position in the NWSL. So we could see a winger step in and Dunn can move forward without any drop in quality.
If you are curious about soccerdonna ratingsSmith costs 350,000 euros, Rodman 275,000, Horan 250,000, Lavelle 210,000 and Girma is a bargain at 210,000. Defenders don’t get enough respect.
Japanese setup
Goalkeeper: Ayaka Yamashita (free agent on the official roster; elsewhere listed as Kobe Leonessa/JPN)
Defense (left to right): Moeki Minami (Roma/ITA), captain Saki Kumagai (Roma/ITA), Toko Koga (Feyenoord/NED)
Midfield (from left to right, more or less): Hikaru Kitagawa (Kobe Leonessa/JPN), Fuka Nagano (Liverpool/ENG), Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City/ENG), Miyabi Moriya (Kobe Leonessa/JPN)
Forward: Aoba Fujino (Manchester City/ENG), Mina Tanaka (Utah/USA), Kiko Seike (Urawa Reds/JPN)
It looks like a 3-4-3, except Kitagawa and Moriya are listed as defenders, and Fujino and Seike are listed as midfielders. The difference between a 3-4-3 and a 5-4-1 is really a matter of attitude and intent. (Or desperation, if the US can manage to push those midfielders/defenders back into their own end.)
Minami is the only player with a yellow card. If she gets another yellow card today, she will miss the semi-final.
Kumagai and Yamashita are the only players to have played all 270 minutes so far.
Six different players scored goals. Several of today’s starters did so not begin the group stage final against Nigeria.
Manchester United’s Hinata Miyazawa, No. 26 on The Guardian’s list of the 100 greatest female footballers, is available on the bench after making two group stage starts. Hasegawa, Kumagai and Tanaka are all also on that list.
At soccerdonna.de the team’s most valuable players are Hasegawa (225,000 euros) and Tanaka (125,000).
And just after I typed that, I checked the schedule and the US just took another silver medal while gold was in sight.
I won’t mention the sport, in case people don’t want the results spoiled. The trend is the most important thing. That’s the 19th silver medal for the US.
In some cases, silver and bronze are great. The women’s rugby team’s bronze medal win has been one of the highlights of the Games so far. Evy Leibfarth’s stunning performance in canoe slalom is another. Silver and bronze in men’s skateboarding is not bad. But when do those silver medals turn into gold?
What is the record for silver medals anyway? Hmmm… more spreadsheet work in my future…
Nations turn their lonely eyes on you…
We’ve come far enough into the Olympics for American fans to start to worry about the medal count. Not the total medal count, which is usually what stands out most to American fans, but the gold medal count, which is what the rest of the world tends to point to.
I’ll spare you the detailed calculations I used to project gold and total medals for the US and China, and the update from a few days ago. It’s too early for math. The gist of it is that my model that pegged the US for 48 gold medals is now down to 41. A more subjective count puts the US at something closer to 33 — which could still be enough to take first place, as China is also behind their projection, and France is unlikely to sustain that momentum, etc., etc.
Anyway, yes, the U.S. has had a mix of expected triumphs (Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky), a few surprises (two gold medals in the women’s foil, men’s rowing four) and a slew of shocks (men’s swimming, BMX cycling, surfing, 3×3 basketball (pending further participation), shooting (pending skeet events), women’s rowing eight and women’s tennis).
On the soccer front, things looked rosy for the US – until yesterday, when the score of the men’s 4-0 defeat to Morocco was a good reflection of the difference in technical and tactical skills between the teams.
While American fans wait for Simone Biles or maybe Suni Lee to win a few more gold medals and await a potentially huge haul in track and field (starting today with Ryan Crouser and Sha’Carri Richardson?), this women’s soccer team could lighten the mood.
But if you think the US is having a hard time in France, think about Japan.
Sure, they have eight gold medals — three in judo, two in skateboarding, two in gymnastics and one in fencing. But in team sports, they’ve struggled. The men’s soccer team came through an easy group but lost in the knockout rounds. Other teams — men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball, women’s hockey, men’s handball, men’s rugby sevens and men’s water polo — are a combined 2-22 after the men’s water polo lost 23-8 to Spain today. (Women’s rugby sevens won three times and finished ninth.)
Women’s football offers an opportunity to put things right.
Preamble
Good morning, USA – and good afternoon and evening to everyone who would like to see a showdown between two women’s soccer teams with a history of excellence. (Maybe there are a few people in England who would like to see Emma Hayes show everyone how to coach a national team?)
We’re used to seeing the US and Japan play each other in the later stages. They’ve appeared in back-to-back World Cup finals, with Homare Sawa and Aya Miyama leading Japan to the trophy in 2011 and the US responding in 2015 when Carli Lloyd scored from almost anywhere on the pitch in the first 16 minutes.
Japan hasn’t been at championship level for a few years, but it’s safe to say that no American fan is taking this game for granted. This should be a classic.
(Unless Japan sits all the way back and waits for Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman to do a 360-degree skateboard spin to beat eight defenders and score, in which case the 15-second spin might be a classic.)
To enjoy.