Day 16: Group A for Awful

Spain and Japan make light work of reaching the quarter-finals

Switzerland 1 - Spain 5

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again. Well it was try, try, try, try, try again for Spain as they won a knockout fixture at an international tournament at the fifth time of asking. And to be fair to them, they did it in style as they brushed aside a very poor Switzerland team.

Spain’s starting XI caused quite a stir as Jorge Vilda opted to make five changes from the side who were pummelled 4-0 by Japan in their final group game. Alba Redondo, Esther Gonzalez, Oihane Hernandez, Laia Codina and Cata Coll all began this knockout match with those changes at the back perhaps the most shocking. Cata Coll was making her international debut in goal, replacing Misa Rodriguez who could justifiably be fed up with her defence for their role in her four concessions against Japan.

Ultimately, it probably did not matter who Spain played in attack given how poor Switzerland were. They tried to sit back but showed none of the discipline Japan had managed making it easy for Spain to play through their lines. Some of their defending in the penalty area looked like they were running in slo mo and as wonderful as Aitana Bonmati was, she found it far too easy to make it look like she was playing against kids with her feints.

Intriguingly, Vilda’s switches did make some kind of tactical sense. Using Redondo gave Spain more width than when they play with Mariona whilst Esther stretches the back line more than Jenni does. Oihane was happy to sit back on the right side to enable them to build up in a three with Ona pushing high and wide. What is strange is why Vilda felt unable to make these adjustments with the players who had seemed to be essential parts of his team mere days ago; Olga Carmona wore the captain’s armband against Japan - could Vilda really not explain to her she needed to sit back more?

The foibles of the switches in defence were made clear when Laia Codina amusingly passed the ball past Cata Coll and into the back of her own net. It was a better chance than anything Switzerland were able to create and whilst it had little effect here, it was not the mark of defensive solidity that Spain wanted to prove. We know that Spain can score goals against poor defences; we’re still waiting to see if they can defend against good attacks.

Japan 3 - Norway 1

If Hege Riise has a million haters, I’m one of them. If Hege Riise has one hater, that hater is me. If Hege Riise has no haters, I’m no longer alive. Or that is what Beth Mead would say. I probably fall into the larger category, mainly because I think how Riise approached this game was quite clever. 

Much maligned as she is, the decision to use Ingrid Engen as a pivot in possession whilst dropping her into the back three out of possession felt like an intelligent way to match up with Japan’s front five without having to sacrifice your midfield structure. It unfortunately did not look quite so good when Engen put the ball into her own net after 15 minutes. To be fair Engen’s need to attempt to deal with the ball that was a marker of how dangerous Japan’s balls into the box were looking. When Guro Reiten equalised with a fantastic header five minutes later, Norway got to give their game plan a new go.

And it sort of worked? They restricted Japan to an xG of 1 - although so did Spain and they conceded 4. But Japan’s performance here was very different. They had a lot more of the ball and were forced to try and figure a way through Norway. There were some stupendously good passes with Yui Hasegawa almost unlocking Jun Endo on a number of occasions. But ultimately in the end the pressure of defending for such a long period of time told, and eventually Vilde Boe Risa made an error, gifting the ball to Risa Shimizu who put Japan 2-1 ahead.

Towards the end of the match, Norway sparked into life and did look a threat from aerial balls. It left viewers pondering the question, why did they not try and get the ball to Caroline Graham Hansen more? That will be one for Riise to answer given she did not even start her for all their matches. It was another disheartening tournament showing from the Norwegians. Defensively, they have certainly improved but there is still not a hint of life about their attack. By the time the 2025 Euros comes around, it will be a decade since Ada Hegerberg scored a goal at an international tournament.

For Japan, this was another adept display. They did not panic about not creating opportunities as Norway sat back but instead carried on probing away, and in the end they were rewarded. They continue to look like the most tactically developed team at this tournament, and, whether they end up facing the US or Sweden in the quarter-finals, should feel confident of progressing further.