Day 7: O’Limipco
Day 7: O’Limipco
Ireland, Zambia and Costa Rica all bow out of the competition
Canada 2 - Republic of Ireland 1
Before this World Cup, I wrote a prediction piece which said that Katie McCabe would both pick up a yellow card in the tournament and score an incredible goal. Enter stage left, Ireland’s group game against Canada whereby McCabe curled a corner in over the flailing arms of Kailen Sheridan to score Ireland’s first ever World Cup goal. She picked up that yellow card in the 98th minute too, desperately trying to keep Ireland’s World Cup hopes alive.
Canada had made a couple of changes since their opening draw against Nigeria with Jessie Fleming fit to start in place of Christine Sinclair and Evelyn Viens replacing Deanne Rose. This match was the first time in six World Cups (not matches, tournaments) where Sinclair was not starting for Canada.
But having gone behind, Canada struggled to deal with the pressure, with aimless long balls and wasted crosses far too easy for the Irish to deal with. If it wasn’t for an unfortunate Megan Connolly own goal on the stroke of half-time, Ireland would have been leading at the break.
Canada manager Bev Priestman made three changes with Shelina Zadorsky replacing Kadeisha Buchanan (who had struggled to deal with Irish striker Kyra Carusa), Sophie Schmidt replacing Julia Grosso, and Christine Sinclair replacing Evelyn Viens. Sinclair and Schmidt both brought a greater sense of control to the Canadian midfield with Jessie Fleming able to spend less time trying to douse fires of Canada’s own making and more time getting the ball forward. Adriana Leon’s eventual winner was well-taken but had been coming.
So Ireland bow out of what was a very difficult group, having shown that they could more than hold their own defensively. They have been unfortunate that a couple of errors in both games have been so costly but without a complete attacking plan, defensive errors will become more outsized in tournament football. In their final group match against Nigeria they have the opportunity to at least pick up a World Cup win.
Japan 2 - Costa Rica 0
Japan continued to look impressive as they got a comfortable win over Costa Rica with an attacking performance that showed all the hallmarks of their opening win over Zambia, albeit with a rotated cast of players.
Form their final third entries we can see how Japan prioritise central and wide areas when it comes to progressing the ball up the pitch. The use of Yui Hasegawa and Honoka Hayashi in combination with Mina Tanaka dropping deep allows them to spread the play from central areas outside.
Tanaka’s incredible fitness has been a massive asset to Japan. Her movement both inside and outside the box has caused both Costa Rica and Zambia significant issues with her both being a threat in build-up and in the box itself. There are more than a few resemblances to the striker who she will be coming up against next - Jenni Hermoso.
The width that Japan are generating on the field is creating huge amounts of space for players on the opposite side. On more than one occasion in this match, Japan had both their wide forward and wing back ready on the right hand side of the box when a shot came in from the left - because they are predominantly attacking from the left. These overloads create so much space in the area, generating high chance opportunities. They are proving to be one of the most thrilling attacking teams to watch.
Spain 5 - Zambia 0
This result for Spain guaranteed both them and Japan safe passage to the Round of 16 but whilst this win was comfortable for Spain, it did highlight a couple of areas where they might struggle moving forward.
From an attacking perspective, they probably looked better in this match than they did against Costa Rica, even if the volume and intensity was not quite as high. Alexia Putellas started - her first start since April 2022 - and she immediately offered the kind of triangular link up on the left that we saw on the right hand side with Aitana Bonmati, Athenea del Castillo and Ona Batlle in the match against Costa Rica. Her scooped assist was made easier by the time both her and Jenni Hermoso had on the ball but it was clear she offers a lot more creatively than Jenni does when playing in the same role (*obvious klaxon*).
Defensively though, there were some wobbles for Spain. This should be caveated with the fact that they only really happened when they were 2-0 up and relaxed into the match. But Zambia and in particular Rachel Kundananji (who plays in Spain and would have been very familiar with their entire team) shone a spotlight on where you should attack.
Namely, that is behind the fullbacks. As we saw against Costa Rica, Spain like to push their fullbacks high to create those triangular patterns. Here on the left hand side we can see exactly the area just beyond the halfway line where Kundananji was able to find the space to make successful dribbles.
These are the exact areas that Japan have exploited through their wing-backs in their opening two games. Spain have a slight advantage in the final group match that because of their superior goal difference, they would only need a draw to top the group. But Japan will offer a serious test of their set-up and how they are able to adjust and deal with it will tell us a lot more about their credentials than these first two games.
All credit for this Flying Geese title should go to Ashna Guliani