And City’s Yui Hasegawa was once again a shining star in Japan’s midfield who helped contain any major threat the opposition posed.
In control from kick-off, Japan had a handful of opportunities early in the first half to take the lead.
Goalkeeper Daniela Solera was called into action early on as Japan piled on the pressure in the opening 15 minutes.
Hikaru Naomoto fired Japan into the lead in the 25th minute, with Solera’s save unable to force the ball wide of the post.
Japan’s striker, Mina Tanaka, turned provider during the match. She often dropped deep to help move the ball from midfield into Costa Rica’s third. In doing so she assisted Japan’s first goal as they showed their quick, clinical passing.
Two minutes later and Aoba Fujino scored her first goal for her country. After quick footwork on the right hand side, she somehow found the back of the net despite being extremely close to the touch line, forcing the ball in between the near post and the keeper.
Hasegawa had a chance to extend Japan’s lead in the second half. Her confident run with the ball was left uncontested, allowing her to pull the trigger from just outside the box but was saved comfortably by Solera.
Her performance was similar to when she plays in sky blue, composed. Hasegawa worked relentlessly in midfield to help Japan regain possession quickly throughout the 90 minutes as well as helping begin attacking plays from the centre of the pitch.
As a team, Japan showed their class throughout the remaining minutes of the game, totalling 12 shots on target and had it not been for Solera, Costa Rica could have suffered a much heavier defeat while Japan continued to grow in confidence.
Japan’s biggest test will come in their final group game against Spain, who are one of the favourites for the tournament, on Monday 31 July.
But, Japan could become the first team to qualify for the knockout stages if Spain are able to gain at least a point in their match against Zambia and therefore put less pressure on their final group game.
