Japan's effort in the U-17 Women’s World Cup started off right with a 3-2 triumph over the American squad in New Zealand.
Vicki DiMartino scored for the Americans three minutes after the opening whistle before
Mana Iwabuchi equalized it nine minutes later when she scooped a rebound off
Chiaki Shimada shot that had hit the post. Six minutes after the break, the Americans once again took the lead with
Kristie Mewis' goal. However in a flurry
Natsumi Kameoka drew the match level with twenty-two minutes remaining and six minutes later
Akane Saito's cross was dispatched to the back of the net by
Kei Yoshioka to give Japan the 3-2 victory.
Japan faces France on November 2 after they defeated Paraguay 6-2 in their opening match.
Hiroshi Yoshida's Women's U-17 are defying expectations in the Women's U-17 tournament in New Zealand and produced the biggest margin of victory as they overwhelmed France 7-1. In-fact in a show of good sportsmanship, Japan eased back after the break or the score would have likely been much worse. After the match coach Hiroshi Yoshida commented: "I always tell my players that, no matter how beautiful the football is, the purpose of their play must always be to score," he said. "The final outcome - goals - is everything. [Against France], because we played good football and scored a lot of goals, it was an ideal performance."
Fifteen year-old Mana Iwabuchi created numerous opportunities with Yuiko Inoue opening the scoring at eleven minutes. French hopes grew as five minutes later Marine Augis brought the match level at 1 but after that Japan countered with six unanswered goals.
Natsuki Kishikawa (pictured, left) scored from the spot five minutes later and twelve minutes after the break, Chiaki Shimada at thirty-eight minutes and Chinatsu Kira scoring an incredible hat-trick at twenty-six, twenty-seven and thirty-four minutes. After the match skipper Natsuki Kishikawa said: "Although I am inclined to think we can win this tournament, I don't want to think that way because it might affect our performance."
