Buoyed by its miraculous victory over Brazil on July 28, Nadeshiko Japan scored three first-half goals to notch a convincing 3-1 win over Nigeria in their Group C match in Nantes on Wednesday, July 31 and book a spot in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The triumph means Japan, which finished with six goals in the group stage, will take on the United States in a final eight matchup on Saturday, August 3, at the Parc des Princes in Paris. The US won Group B with a 3-0 record.
Nigeria was eliminated with the defeat and finished with a mark of 0-3.
Maiko Hamano gave Japan a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute after taking a pass from Riko Ueki and easily putting the ball in the net in Nantes, France.
Mina Tanaka doubled Nadeshiko's advantage to 2-0 when she took a rebound off the bar and punched it in 10 minutes later.
Nadeshiko Japan Leads 3-1 at Halftime
After a goal by Jennifer Echegini in the 42nd minute cut Nigeria's deficit to 2-1, Hikaru Kitagawa restored Japan's two-goal margin in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time with a score on a free kick from 25 meters out.
"I'm extremely happy, but it was a goal the team let me score," Hamano said of her first international goal.
She added, "I played with only victory in mind. I played with a conscious effort to give the team momentum today."
Japan made the most of its four shots on target in the match, while Nigeria had three in the loss.
Nadeshiko Japan Manager Reacts to Team's Play in Group Stage
"I feel happy to have come out of a difficult Group C," Nadeshiko manager Futoshi Ikeda was quoted as saying by Kyodo News.
"We carried the game out well while watching how the opposing team came at us. Each of our players are thinking about what they can do and fulfilling their responsibilities."
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
