Two goals in 2 minutes help Japan beat Costa Rica 2-0 at Women’s World Cup

Hikaru Naomoto and Aoba Fuji scored two minutes apart in first half to lead Japan to a 2-0 Women’s World Cup victory over Costa Rica on Wednesday, and Japanese qualified for kckout st later when Spain beat Zambia.

Japan and Spain — 5-0 winners over Zambia — were first teams in tournament to move on to round of 16. y are tied for top spot in Group C with six points each, and seeding will be determined by outcome of ir Monday match.

Japan and Costa Rica kicked off in front of a sparse crowd of 6,992 at Dunedin Stadium, a huge differential from record sales of over 1.5 million tickets for this year’s tournament. High fan turut in Auckland and Sydney — re were 117,000 combined at opening night in those cities — have been partly offset by much smaller crowds in Dunedin, where attendance has dropped with each match from an initial high of 13,711.

Las Ticas kept pressure high throughout match, but Japanese dominated with precision in ball handling and passes.

Mina Tanaka passed ball to Naomoto, who dribbled past a Costa Rican defender before scoring on outstretched goalkeeper Daniela Solera in 25th minute. Fuji n snuck ball in on an angle into far left corner of net. Costa Rican defenders Maria Paula Elizondo and Mariana Benavides failed to stop Fuji from scoring.

KEY MOMENTS

Japan came close to scoring earlier in match off rebound of a save by Solera. Hinata Miyazawa collided with Japanese teammate Aoba Fuji as y both went in for kick, causing m to miss shot.

Costa Rican midfielder Raquel “Rocky” Rodriguez, star of team, didn’t come into game until midway through second half. She missed her team’s last match against Spain due to an undisclosed injury.

Solera went down midway through second half after taking a shoulder to head, but she remained in game.

WHY IT MATTERS

Japan has w qualified for kckout st for fourth time in nation’s history.

Japan won tournament in 2011, beating United States, and lost to Americans in a rematch in 2015.

Costa Rica was eliminated from contention with its second loss of group st.

IN IR OWN WORDS

“re are some players who are at World Cup for first time, but y are so energetic and that makes me so happy. team is working toger as one unit,” Japan head coach Futoshi Ikeda.

“Honestly, it makes me a little emotional because, I don’t kw, sometimes people within our own country, y’re harshest critics for us. But to see people who come and support (us) all way here, it means world to us,” Rodriguez on fan support for Costa Rica.

WHAT’S NEXT

Japan faces Spain in New Zealand capital of Wellington in a match to decide winner of Group C and kckout round seeding. Japan will need to win that match to capture first place in group because Spain has edge in goal differential.

Also on Monday, Costa Rica travels to Hamilton to play Zambia.