EDMONTON, Alberta — Coach Norio Sasaki can say whatever he wants in suggesting his Japanese players are superior to England’s.
Coach Mark Sampson would prefer to see that decided on the field Wednesday, when his upstart Lionesses face the defending champion Nadeshiko in the Women’s World Cup semifinal.
Pausing for five seconds after being informed what Sasaki had told reporters earlier on Tuesday, Sampson began by saying he expects a game of contrasting styles.
“We’ll have to appreciate and respect the quality they’ve got technically,” Sampson said. “But we’ve got some half-decent players technically ourselves.”
They’ve been more than half-decent enough to get sixth-ranked England this far in making the nation’s deepest run in four tournament appearances.
“We’ve upset the apple cart so far,” Sampson said, in noting how England has won four straight, and coming off a 2-1 win over host Canada. “We know we’ve made life very difficult for every one of or our opponents. And that’ll be our intention tomorrow.”
It’s also not lost on England that they’re 1-0-2 in their past three meetings against Japan. And that includes a 2-0 win in the 2011 World Cup preliminary round in Germany.
“They are the world champions, and we have to respect that,” midfielder Jill Scott said. “But we have beaten them before, so why not again tomorrow?”
Sasaki is aware Japan has never beaten England since he took over as coach in 2008. And yet, he believes that’s about to change.
“I don’t think the players are overconfident. But it seems that the coach is overconfident because we lost last time,” Sasaki said, referring to himself, through a translator. “In terms of the stamina, both teams will have a tough game. But even with the conditions, I think the Japanese players are superior.”
The fourth-ranked Nadeshiko are 8-0 in World Cup play since losing to England.
They’ve rolled through this tournament with an efficient, ball-control, creative passing style that relies on patience and teamwork that’s effectively worn down opponents. That was the case in their 1-0 win over Australia in the quarterfinal on Saturday, when Mana Iwabuchi subbed in and scored in the 87th minute.
“I think we can probably do that, or we can probably do even better than we did against Australia,” Sasaki said, before looking ahead to the championship game at Vancouver, British Columbia on Sunday. “So we will definitely go back to Vancouver, I believe that.”
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