New Zealand’s Young Ferns succumbed to three second half goals from Japan at the 8km Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 26 September to leave their hopes of progressing past the group stage in the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals hanging by a thread. The defeat leaves Paul Temple’s side needing to beat Brazil in their final group match on the last day of the month, and hope that Japan can account for Mexico by a scoreline similar to the deserved 3-0 triumph they recorded over the Kiwis, for whom goalkeeper Lily Alfeld and defender Emily Jensen again shone. Young Nadeshiko piled on the pressure straight from the kick-off, and produced their first threat in the seventh minute of the match. Playmaker Yui Narumiya played the ball wide to Yuka Momiki, whose tantalising cross targeted Rika Masuya as she homed in on the near post. The advancing figure of Alfeld put the striker off, however, her failure to make contact with the ball ensuring New Zealand could continue to defend solidly during the early stages of the contest, during which the Japanese were largely restricted to wayward long-range efforts at goal. Their cause was aided by their opponents’ failure to retain the ball for lengthy periods, a move of potential too often foundering on a hopeful or over-ambitious pass instead of one which ensured ball retention was maintained against a team which cherishes possession, something which New Zealand sides must learn to do. Occasionally in this match, the Young Ferns showed they are capable of doing so, such as in the eighteenth minute, when the ever-industrious Hannah Carlsen produced a pass which allowed Jasmine Pereira to penetrate Japan’s left flank. The flank player forced her way through two challenges before firing over a cross just too far in front of Emma Fletcher. Emma Rolston, one of three personnel changes made to the Young Ferns’ starting eleven, was able to retrieve the situation, but was swiftly closed down. When Japan next threatened, in the 27th minute, they encountered Alfeld at her very best. Fullback Saki Ishii surged forward from deep before slipping a pass to Hina Sugita, who engineered an opening which allowed her to let fly from the edge of the penalty area. Alfeld tipped this effort over the bar, and was relieved to see Narumiya’s deft flicked effort creep past the post four minutes later, after Japan’s captain had darted in to meet Momiki’s teasing cross from the left, after she had cut inside to avoid the attentions of the hard-working Meikayla Moore. Twelve minutes before half-time, Alfeld produced the save of the tournament so far. Momiki rewarded the overlapping run of Risa Shimizu with a pass which allowed the fullback to get to the byline and ping in a cross to the far post. Alfeld, who was covering her near post, moved across her line, but was still some distance away from the ball when Masuya met it with a downward header which, from four yards out, looked a certain goal. But the ‘keeper flung herself to her left and somehow pawed the bouncing ball round the post - a quite brilliant save! Unfortunately for the Young Ferns, Laura Merrin, who had been one of three players leaping for the ball as Shimizu’s cross came in, found herself beneath the other contenders when the trio fell to earth, and their combined weight left the fullback nursing a shoulder injury which prompted her premature departure from the fray, and a tactical reshuffle for the Kiwi team. Megan Lee, who recovered well from the severe cramp which forced her out of the Mexico match, dropped back from her left wing position, allowing Martine Puketapu to take up that role. But it was Lee, now able to overlap the newcomer, who provided New Zealand’s next threat, her penetrative run six minutes from the half-time whistle engineering an opening which saw Fletcher sting the gloves of the hitherto unoccupied Chika Hirao from twenty-five yards. This prompted Japan to pile on the pressure as they sought a goal before the interval. A short corner routine culminated in Narumiya sending a shot swerving across the face of goal, while the captain’s twenty yarder was deflected over the bar seconds after Alfeld had comfortably dealt with an effort from Momiki, who had got the better of Moore prior to letting fly.

The Young Ferns looked to catch Japan cold straight from the kick-off in the second spell, with Carlsen, Moore and Pereira combining to play the ball into the penalty area. Puketapu was the target, and she laid it back towards Rolston, but not accurately enough to give her the chance to open the scoring from eighteen yards. Sadly, that was as close as New Zealand was to get as an attacking force in this match. For the balance of the encounter, they were having to contain Japan’s attacking intentions, something they largely did quite well. Jensen was a tower of strength in this regard, as evidenced in the 53rd minute as she thwarted Masuya’s progress after the striker had been played through by Momiki’s penetrative pass. Four minutes later, a stray pass from Moore was pounced on by Sugita, who swiftly transferred it to Narumiya. Her pass to Masuya allowed her to pick out the unmarked Sugita with a cross, but a harsh offside call went against the striker - footage showed she was kept onside by Young Ferns captain Catherine Bott, whose remarkable recovery from injury prior to this match was a welcome boost to the Kiwi camp. There was nothing Bott and company could do about the goal which broke the deadlock on the hour, however. Ishii’s corner was cleared to the edge of the penalty area, where half-time substitute Yui Hasegawa strode onto the ball and fair hammered it hard and low beyond the despairing dive of Alfeld into the bottom far corner of the net - 1-0 Japan, a goal their possession and overall performance merited. And while it may have broken the hearts of the Young Ferns to see the ball nestling in the back of their net after they had resisted the best Japan could offer over the course of an hour’s play, their spirit remained strong, as evidenced just two minutes later when Alfeld pulled off another fine save to deny Masuya after the striker had been released in behind the defence by Ruka Norimatsu’s lofted ball from half-way. That save prompted another short corner - Japan had a wealth of variations on this tactic which they employed throughout proceedings. This one found its way to Masuya, who shot straight at Alfeld after evading a challenge in the penalty area. That save was Alfeld’s last denial of consequence in the match, such were the efforts of Jensen and friends in front of her to keep the Japanese at bay. But another stray pass from Moore, twelve minutes from time, was to prove fatal for the Young Ferns’ hopes of restricting their Asian rivals to just one goal. Momiki pounced on the ball and slipped it into the stride of Hasegawa, who battered home a twenty-five yarder which had Alfeld clutching at thin air - a stunning strike which doubled Japan’s lead. The Young Ferns looked to halve the deficit six minutes later when Lee brought the ball out of defence and presented Fletcher with a chance which she fired wide of the mark from twenty-five yards. It was one of the few occasions when New Zealand’s passes in the attacking third of the pitch had found their intended target, undoing all the hard work which had been undertaken to create potential opportunities to score. Hence Japan were rarely threatened throughout this match, and to rub salt into their beaten opponents’ wounds, they netted a third goal in stoppage time from the penalty spot. Rin Sumida picked herself up and dusted herself down before slotting home from twelve yards to wrap up Japan’s 3-0 win, after Lee and Bott inadvertently combined to end her progress by foul means rather than fair in the penalty area, with time all but up on the clock. Remarkably, Japan are the only team in the entire tournament to boast two wins from as many matches at Azerbaijan 2012. The Young Ferns will be hoping they continue on their winning ways on the final day of group action on Sunday, when the Kiwis will be looking to make history by beating Brazil, a result which will give them the chance to advance to the quarter-finals of the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. Japan: Hirao; Ishii, Matsubara, Norimatsu, Shimizu; Ito (Hasegawa, 46), Sugita (Nakamura, 68), Sumida, Momiki; Narumiya, Masuya (Shiraki, 84) Young Ferns: Alfeld; Moore, Bott, Jensen, Merrin (Puketapu, 38); Carlsen, Fletcher (Oosterhof, 84), Cleverley; Pereira, Rolston (Dabner, 79), Lee Referee: Cardella Samuels (Jamaica)