Four-time Olympic champions, the USA, will take on Japan in the Quarter
Finals to battle it out for a spot in the final four.
The 41st encounter between these sides since the 1980s will take place at Parc des Princes in Paris, home to PSG.
Previous meetings:
In previous times these two nations have clashed, the USA typically have an upper
hand over Japan and come out on top in their matches against one another.
Overall in these games, Japan have achieved just one victory, with the USA taking the win
on 31 occasions and the remaining 8 meetings ending in a tie.
A notable previous contest between these nations was the gold medal match at the
London 2012 Olympics. This game resulted in a narrow 2-1 victory for the USA, with
thanks to a brace from Carli Lloyd. Since this final, a gold Olympic medal for Japan’s
Women’s team is an attainment they are yet to match, and for the US, they are yet to
achieve topping the Olympic podium again.
Their Olympic journeys so far this summer:
Emma Hayes’ first tournament as a national team manager with the USA has proved
highly successful so far. Despite a 91 st minute goal from the Matildas’ Alanna
Kennedy, the USA ended their final game of the group stage with a win, the final
score being 2-1, meaning they had a clean sweep and collected all nine points
possible.
Scoring 9 goals and conceding just 2 proves the USA as a strong side heading into
the quarter finals. Being yet to lose a game and topping their group, it is no doubt
they will be heading into the knockout rounds with confidence.
Japan finished their group in second place, behind Spain, qualifying for the knockout
stages for the fourth time in their history. They gained a total of six points across their
group stage with their only defeat coming against Spain, handing over the three
points to them in a narrow 2-1 defeat.
Scoring in every group stage game demonstrates the offence of Japan to be vital to
their success, with the likes of Chelsea’s Maika Hamano often featured in their front
line. This may prove a key factor in getting them over the line into the final four.
Predicted formations:
So far this tournament, Emma Hayes’ side have stuck to a 4-1-2-3 starting XI. For
the first two games, the starting squad was identical with just one change for the
third game, with Emily Sonnett replacing Tierna Davidson in the backline.
We can expect to see a fairly similar formation and starting XI for the upcoming fixture
against Japan.
A strong starting frontline of Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson, and Sophia Smith have made a total of eleven goal contributions between them over the past three games, so definitely pose a threat to the opposition.
Japan however have changed formation between a 3-4-3 against Spain and a 5-3-2
versus Brazil and Spain. With this, the starting XI’s have varied slightly with rotation
of players in all areas of the pitch.
As well as switching up the starting formations between games, players have been noted to play in different positions on the field too. Talents such as Manchester City’s Yui Hasegawa and Chelsea’s Maika Hamano have featured in both the front line and midfield within the starting line-ups.
This versatility may also be crucial for Japan in terms of rotation or in case of injury,
aswell as the opponents not being certain of what position they will be played in,
which Japan can use to their advantage.
Japan’s playing style has looked a danger to opponents through utilising their
counterattack by aiming to expose the defence of the opposition, which is something
the USA may find difficult to work with. Despite this, the threat of their frontline could
be a decisive factor in this fixture.
With these teams being close with each other on performance levels and current
FIFA rankings, a close match is in store for this quarter final with the idea of extra
time and penalties not being highly unlikely. The bench for the Americans has a
great level of depth which may be the determining factor to get the USA past a highly
rated side like Japan.
Featured image courtesy of Jack Tanner via Flickr. No changes have been made to this image. License details found here.
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