2023-07-31 14:50:42
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Spain did not lose its identity, but it did lose its composure against a very tricky Japan, as it suggested that it would fight for the ball and limited itself to denying spaces and passing lanes with a sheltered defense to counterattack. And what a cons! Hypersonic races with bad slime, clubbing that tore Spain apart. A reality check for Vilda’s team, which failed the cotton test. Until now, plasticine rivals such as Costa Rica and Zambia had been measured. The match defined the leader of the group and a diagnosis of the real possibilities of La Roja was finally expected from the result. And what seemed like gold was left in pyrite, a bump headlong against the ground reported with four goals. There is still time, in any case, to compose themselves, to explain that you can always have a bad day and that Spain has plenty of football. On Saturday Switzerland awaits him in the round of 16 (7.00, La1).
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Ayaka Yamashita, Moeka Minami, Hana Takahashi, Saki Kumagai, Honoka Hayashi, Fuka Nagano, Risa Shimizu, Jun Endo, Hikaru Naomoto, Riko Ueki and Hinata Miyazawa
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Misa, Olga Carmona, Rocío Gálvez, Irene Paredes, Ona Batlle, Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmatí, Teresa Abelleira, Salma Paralluelo, Jenni Hermoso and Mariona Caldentey
28: Riko Ueki. 3-0 min. 40: Hinata Miyazawa. 4-0 min. 82: Mina Tanaka.
Referee Katja Koroleva
Yellow cards Olga Carmona (min. 45) and Oihane Hernández (min. 89)
The day already warned early in the morning that it was not for joy, leaden skies with dense clouds, harsh rain and a wind with some peaks that upset the city of Wellington, also afflicted by a nearby earthquake of magnitude 4.3 the night before. He made buildings tremble and spread fears. None like the one that Japan broadcast with its staging. With a 5-4-1 in defense that became a 3-4-3 in attack, the Japanese team expressed itself with galloping counters, run run I’ll catch you. He did wonderfully, because with only 23% of possession he blurred and unstitched Spain. No team has won a women’s World Cup game with fewer balls since Opta kept records in 2011.
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It turns out that this Monday in Wellington the ball only rolled between the boots of La Roja, possession without a bite because the rival, entrenched and hand in hand, governed by the law of five meters —five with the partner in front, the one behind and those on the sides—it was a granite block in which no cracks could be glimpsed. The duel required Spain to move the ball with diligence and precision, which also gave depth to its football. But it was hard for him because no matter how much he kneaded the ball, his associative game was short-circuited in the three-quarter zone: no superiority was generated on the wings —Mariona shot in and occupied spaces from Alexia—; and the balls did not arrive through the central lanes or between the lines because the interior lines did not have space to receive or catapult. A mess for Spain, which did not find the roadmap. Perhaps Aitana when explaining that you are not in the area but that you arrive, a break from the second line that almost hits him to tie a Mariona cross.
The coach Jorge Vilda laments during the match. AMANDA PEROBELLI (REUTERS)
It gave Japan so much to play in the kitchen of its house, sheltered in its area, happy because Spain was not defined in the areas. Neither in the rival nor in his own. Among other things because the defense, always daring, took the risks it usually does. And that was his sentence, weighed down by the loss of Ivana, all penalized by a rival who knew what he was playing. Two passes were enough for him to chip away at the opposing defensive network. Like that cross movement from the root, control and deep pass from Naomoto so that Miyawaza’s diagonal could show Rocío Gálvez the number plate, so that she could beat Misa with a pass to the net. Ax blow for Spain and comforting slaps for Japan, who suddenly had the game where they wanted, ahead on the scoreboard and without offensive demands, unconcerned about gaining meters and screwed near their area to shell Spanish football.
It happened that La Roja stumbled twice and three on the same stone because Japan was hit with another counter to portray Rocío Gálvez, unable to close the line or the spaces, positioned in a bad way, slow in correction and surpassed by runs rivals. Something that Ueki clarified with an uncheck, a control and a shot that Paredes touched but did not deflect enough: another goal. There was more; after a loss by Paredes, Miyawaza returned to shoot the diagonal, to receive and define against Misa. Three goals like three rising suns at intermission. Japan in the sky and broken Spain.
La Roja tried to compose herself, open her wings and look for superiority on the outside —like that attack by Ona that was resolved with a wall with Mariona and a shot that was too crossed—, take out centers in search of a Jenni Hermoso who fought without scratching the ball . There was no way to get their hands on a Japan that continued with its plan to the letter, also happy because Alexia was already on the bench without having meant anything.
Spain played to win and got lost in their football, sterile with possession, disoriented before the rival intensity and cracked before some counterattacks, as Tanaka once again demonstrated when he once again deciphered the warmth of Rocío Gálvez with a new goal. It is not the end point but a warning that indoor soccer does not reverberate without fast passes, without outlined controls and without depth, without shots to be taken down the throat and, above all, without governing the areas.
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