Women’s World Cup: Mana Iwabuchi lifts Japan to semis with 1-0 win over Australia

Japanese coach Norio Sasaki couldn’t resist making a joke at Mana Iwabuchi’s expense when explaining his decision to substitute the forward in during the second half against Australia on Saturday.

Iwabuchi, Sasaki said with a laugh, went from “not yet” to right now.

Some 15 minutes after entering the game, Iwabuchi scored during a scramble in front of goal in the 87th minute to secure a 1-0 win in the Women’s World Cup quarterfinal in Edmonton, Alberta.

“Her first name is Mana. And in Japanese, ‘Not yet, not yet,’ would be ‘mada,’ so (the words) are very close,” Sasaki said through a translator. “And it didn’t take her too long as far as she’s concerned.”

The fourth-ranked Japanese will stay in Edmonton, where they will play England, a 2-1 winner Saturday over Canada, in the semifinals Wednesday.

Patience and fresh legs paid off for the defending champions, as their ball-controlling style combined with the 90-degree temperatures gradually wore down the 10th-ranked Australians.

Iwabuchi had nearly scored a minute earlier, but her shot was blocked by Elise Kellond-Knight, which led to a corner kick.

Though Aya Miyama’s corner kick was headed out of the penalty area, the ball bounced directly to Rumi Utsugi, who immediately sent it back toward the goal. Azusa Iwashimizu had her shot stopped by Lydia Williams, but the goalkeeper was unable to control the rebound.

The ball squirted to the left, where Iwabuchi knocked it to the open side.

“The difficulty was the heat,” said Utsugi, who was named player of the match for setting up the goal. “However, throughout the game, the resolve of all members to keep it up to the end was the challenge. However, we did manage to do that.”

Japan is a perfect 5-0 in Canada, and has won eight straight since winning the 2011 tournament in Germany, when it beat the United States in penalty kicks in the championship game. The Nedeshiko are now two victories from becoming the second nation to win consecutive tournaments after Germany won in 2003 and ‘07.

The Matildas go home after making their deepest run in tournament history. The 10th-ranked team won its first elimination game by upsetting seventh-ranked Brazil in the round of 16.

“Obviously disappointed at the result, but when you look at the big scheme of things, we lost 1-0,” coach Alen Stajcic said. “It was 1-0 in the 88th minute off a scrappy corner. It’s not as if we were humiliated.”

They were, however, beaten by a team that showed more composure and patience.

The Matildas exerted too much energy chasing the ball in the first 20 minutes. And when they finally got possession, the Australians too often gave the ball right back to Japan.

“Certainly (the Japanese) were a lot more composed throughout the 90 minutes,” Stajcic said. “It’s a heart-breaking experience for all of us. But sometimes you learn the most from these experiences.”

England 2, Canada 1: Jodie Taylor and Lucy Bronze scored in the shocking first 14 minutes, and England eliminated Canada from its home World Cup with a victory in the quarterfinals in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Lionesses overcame a frenzied Canadian crowd at BC Place and a second-half goalkeeper change to secure their nation’s first trip to the semifinals.

England crushed the hopes of a host nation hoping to celebrate Canada’s first World Cup title on this same field.

Christine Sinclair scored in the 42nd minute for Canada, which had given up just one goal in the entire World Cup before giving up two more just three minutes apart.