The U.S. women ended Japan’s stay in the Women’s World Cup and set up a rematch of the 1991 World Championship final.
“Relax, relax.”
That’s what midfielder Julie Foudy was telling her teammates. And that’s what the U.S. team finally had a chance to do in a 4-0 win over Japan in the quarterfinal round of the Women’s World Cup. You could also hear a more relaxed tone in Tony DiCicco’s voice when he yelled instructions.
Japan, which improved over its performance in the 1991 World Championship, showed why it got this far, playing a technically sound, short-passing game. But it was no match for the U.S.
With the Americans in control much of the time, DiCicco didn’t have to play Michelle Akers, whom he says would have played if the US. really needed her. Tiffeny Milbrett started in Akers’ place again and scored her third goal of the tournament, after Kristine Lilly had decided the issue with a pair of goals.
“She’s just not quite ready,” DiCicco said of Akers. “There’s no reason to put her out there before she can play. I’m not sure she’ll be able to play [in the semifinal]. When she’s ready, she’ll play. I think if we had to use her today, we would have put her in the lineup.”
DiCicco again used his three subs to ease the load on key players — Mia Hamm, Tisha Venturini, and Lilly — ahead of a June 15 semifinal meeting with Norway, which beat Denmark 3-1 in its quarterfinal.
The U.S. lineup had the regular starters, including goalkeeper Briana Scurry, who sat out a 4-1 win over Australia with a red card, and Carin Gabarra, who wanted to play a whole 90 minutes despite a sore back.
The Japanese put up a good fight early but could never really mount a serious offensive threat. They strung together plenty of passes but didn’t have a big-time goalscorer to get them on the board.
“They were toying with us early and we really had to settle down,” said Milbrett.
The U.S. did that after scoring in the eighth minute of the game. Lilly bagged the first of her two goals with a beautiful 35-yard direct free kick that knuckled over the wall and around the right side of goalkeeper Junko Ozawa, who may not have seen the ball and was leaning to her left. Her second was a shot from the top of the box in the 42nd minute that deflected off a defender, off Ozawa, and into the net.
“Kristine Lilly is just having an outstanding championship for us,” DiCicco said. “She’s played in a few different positions, she’s factoring into a lot of our goals. But in addition to that she’s just playing all over the field with her heart and soul … In this World Cup she’s just gone up another level or two.”
From then on, what might have been another struggle against a lesser team —
see Australia — turned into a typical U.S. win. Japan reached the quarterfinals by beating Brazil in its second game, a far better performance than its showing in 1991 when it failed to score a goal in losing all three matches.
Once again, the U.S. compensated for the absence of Akers. Foudy controlled the midfield along with Lilly, while Carla Overbeck shut down many a Japanese attack.
The Japanese forwards — Akemi Noda and Tamaki Uchiyama — had trouble getting away from Joy Fawcett and Linda Hamilton, respectively. Often when they had a chance for a quick counterattack, either Noda or Uchiyama was all alone in a sea of white jerseys and couldn’t break free.
The U.S. had all kinds of time on the ball, as, even when behind, Japan seldom pressured the Americans. The Japanese showed plenty of skill on the ball themselves, displaying nifty dribbling and deft passing that often had the less than capacity crowd impressed.
As has been the case with most opposing teams, Japan couldn’t handle Hamm, listed as Mariel (her real first name) in the starting lineup. She didn’t score, but stretched the Japanese defense to the breaking point while befuddling Maki Haneta, Rie Yamaki, Kae Nishina, Yumi Tomei and whichever other defender Japan threw at her.
While in previous games Hamm has been more of a playmaker, this time she unleashed a variety of shots, from long range and short. In fact in the first half the U.S. outshot Japan 13 to two.
Milbrett on a roll
Just before halftime Milbrett scored her third goal of the tournament — tying Lilly for team-high honors — after Venturini flicked on a Tiffany Roberts cross. Milbrett celebrated by doing a roll near the top of the box after she volleyed the ball into the left side of the net.
“We were talking before the Australia game,” said Milbrett. “People were telling me, ‘You’re on a roll, you’re on a roll, you’re on a roll.’ And I’m like, ‘If I score another goal I’ll do a roll.’ … I usually don’t celebrate. I just jump up and down.”
Roberts improved over a non-Roberts-like performance against China that she attributed to nerves, and got forward to support the offense. She also has a slight hamstring pull in her right leg that she picked up on the Road to Sweden series but says it hasn’t really bothered her at the World Cup.
“I know [the Chinese are] fast and quick and I didn’t want to get caught on the attack,” she said, “and was working more on defense. Today I played well. I shut my mark down in the first half and she ended up coming out.”
Venturini added the final tally in the 78th minute. Milbrett beat Haneta to a loose ball, then she crossed the ball to Gabarra. Ozawa blocked Gabarra’s attempt, but the deflection fell to Venturini, who blasted a shot into the upper right corner of the goal.
The quarterfinal win set up a grudge match with Norway, a 2-1 loser to the U.S. in the ’91 final, in the semifinals. The winner meets either Germany or China in the championship match.
“We know Norway well,” said DiCicco, whose team has a losing record (5-8-1) against its toughest rival. “It will prove to be an interesting game.”
by Soccer America Associate Editor Dean Capara