The 2015 Women’s World Cup quarterfinals continue on Saturday, June 27 with champions Japan battling it out with Australia at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta. A loss in this knockout stage means elimination from the tournament. Any tied games will go to extra time and then a penalty shootout if it’s still level after the extra 30 minutes. Japan goes into this game with seven straight World Cup wins under their belt.
Women’s World Cup Soccer Betting Preview: Japan vs Australia
- bet365 currently lists Japan as the favorites to win this match at 11/10 with Australia 5/2 and a 90-minute draw also at 9/4
Australia were 3-1 losers in their first Group D match as the U.S. too them down. However, they rebounded with a 2-0 win over Nigeria and drew Sweden 1-1 to advance from the tournament’s group of death. They were then faced with the task of taking down mighty Brazil in their round-of-16 encounter and managed to do it by edging South America’s best team 1-0.
Japan won all three of their Group C outings to win the group with their perfect record. They edged Switzerland 1-0 in their opener and followed it up with a 2-1 victory over Cameroon and a 1-0 shutout of Ecuador. Japan has looked dreadful at times in the tournament though, especially in their match against Switzerland. They took on Holland in the round-of-16 and earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory. However, they’ve displayed a bad habit of allowing goals against late in their games.
Australia has the momentum and a lot of confidence after ousting Marta and her Brazilian teammates, but they’re up against the reigning World Cup champions here. If Australia are to pull off their second straight upset at this tournament they’re going to need 23-year-old Kyah Simon to come up with another fine game. She’s scored three goals in her team’s first four games and has now pushed her total to 14 in 56 appearances for Australia. The Australians have never gotten past the final eight as they were eliminated in the quarterfinals in their last two World Cups.
Japan is four for four in the event even though they haven’t played up to their potential. They’ve made numerous mental errors and haven’t played consistently enough. That said, they’ve also shown some brilliant flashes of creativity at times. If they can put it all together for 90 minutes then Australia will be in trouble. Australian goalkeeper Lydia Williams will need to be at her best to keep the Japanese attack off the score sheet and Simon or somebody else is going to have to sneak in a goal. There’s no doubt Japan got the luck of the draw this year as all four of their games so far have been against World Cup debutants. Perhaps if they play stiffer opposition they’ll raise the level of their game.
For Japan to be successful they need to set the pace from the opening whistle and play an up-tempo game for the entire 90 minutes. They can’t afford to sit on a lead if they happen to score early as they need to show a killer instinct. They’ve allowed just two goals in the tournament, but both of those have come late in the second-half to make for nail-biting finishes. These two teams met in last year’s Asian Cup Final with Japan edging Australia 1-0 and that’s also a realistic scenario for this Saturday’s match.
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Written by Ian S. Palmer
