Strong defence significant in Nadeshiko success says Sasaki

Saori Ariyoshi opened the scoring with ten minutes into Tuesday’s encounter at the BC Place Stadium played before her NTV Beleza team-mate Mizuho Sakaguchi put further distance between the holders and the tournament debutants with Japan’s second in the 78th minute. 

Kristen van den Ven struck two minutes into second-half stoppage time for the Netherlands, who had earlier seen efforts cleared off the line by Aya Sameshima and Japan goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori in quick succession with what were the clearest chances for a Dutch side that struggled to penetrate a well-organised Nadeshiko defence.

“We were consistently able to shift play from one side to the other and covered a lot of ground. We controlled the game by playing out from a strong defence,” said Sasaki, winner of the 2011 FIFA World Coach of the Year and AFC Coach of the Year awards after leading Japan to a famous and historic victory in that year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany.

“There were some close moments in the match. We tried to finish every attack with a shot, and that was perhaps the key to our win. The Netherlands pushed forward quickly, and we’ve got great respect for that.”

Sasaki (pictuted) now must prepare his side for the June 27 quarter-final in Edmonton, where the champions will continue their defence against an Australia side that Japan defeated 1-0 in last year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup final as the Nadeshiko were crowned continental champions for the first time.

And the 57-year-old knows that he will need all his tactical acumen against a team that has impressing in Canada, with a 1-0 win over Brazil in the Round of 16 taking the 2010 Asian champions through to the last eight. 

“Australia are technically strong. We’ve never lost to them since I’ve been coach, but they have immense potential nonetheless, added Sasaki.

Photo: FIFA/Getty Images