2011 Champions Hand Copper Queens Baptismal World Cup Debut
Written by Oluwaseun Oyediji
2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup champions, Japan secured a 5-0 win over debutant, Zambia to top Group C at the 2023 Women’s World Cup on Saturday.
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Zambia are making their first-ever appearance at a men’s or women’s World Cup, with the Copper Queens out to make history in Group C.
They are ranked 77th in the world but qualified for this tournament after reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), which doubled as a qualifying tournament for this FIFA event.
By contrast, Japan are a regular at this tournament – appearing in all nine editions of the Women’s World Cup.
Zambia coach Bruce Mwape has opted for Musonda in goal after first-choice goalkeeper Hazel Nali was ruled out of the tournament with an ACL injury.
The Copper Queens are also without Grace Chanda due to illness, though they can call upon captain and star striker Barbra Banda for this history-making appearance in Hamilton.
Futoshi Ikeda has a wealth of experience to select from, with Kumagai captaining a well-oiled Japanese side. Manchester City’s Hasegawa starts in midfield, alongside Nagano, while Mina Tanaka will look to boost her 24-goal return from 63 international appearances.
Japan broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute. Yui Hasegawa slipped Aoba Fujino down the right-hand side with a perfect pass. The latter whipped a delightful right-footed delivery towards the front post, where Hinata Miyazawa poked a calm first-time finish past Musonda.
Five minutes into the second half, the Nadeshiko doubled its lead. Endo is central to all of her team’s attacking endeavours. The left wing-back drove in behind and squared across for Mina Tanaka, who slid a deft poke into the bottom-right corner.
In the 63rd minute, Mina Tanaka made it to the byline and drilled towards the near post, where Musonda failed to deal with the danger. The waiting Miyazawa tapped into an empty net to double her account and extend Japan’s lead.
Nine minutes later, the Asian side scored its fourth goal. Jun Endo got a deserved goal as she drove a left-footed strike into the bottom-right corner. The initial pass came from Hasegawa before the Japan wing-back did the rest with a smart finish.
In the additional minutes of the second half, substitute Riko Ueki raced down the middle and Musonda carelessly hauled her down. The referee showed no hesitation and pointed to the spot.
After missing the first spot kick, the referee ordered it to be retaken. Ueki made no mistake and sent a right-footed attempt into the bottom-right corner. Debutant Sakala had no chance this time.
Japan moved to the top of Group C with three points and a superior goal difference ahead of Spain while Costa Rica and Zambia are without any points.
Meanwhile…
Japan are unbeaten in their last six opening games at the Women’s World Cup (three wins and three draws).
Read Also – Goalkeeping Records At FIFA Women’s World Cup
They registered their biggest win in the competition during one of them, a 6–0 victory against Argentina in 2003, but their only goalless game in their 33 matches in the competition also came in an opening game, in 2019 again against Argentina.
This is the first-ever encounter between Zambia and Japan; the Copper Queens played three games against AFC teams in 2023, winning against Uzbekistan (4-0) before losing their two games against the Korea Republic (2-10 on aggregate).
This is only Japan’s second game against a team from Africa at the Women’s World Cup, after their win 2-1 over Cameroon in the 2015 group stage.
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