#019 - The World Cup Diaries - Day 7
Three pseudo strikers, an Olimpico and McLegend!
Seven days into the tournament and the last 16 are already starting to take shape. Today we bid farewell to three teams, two of which were debutants. Zambia and Costa Rica couldn’t withstand the overwhelming quality of Spain and Japan on the ball while Ireland gave a lasting impression of their quality on the field against Canada.
It was a day for the link forwards or false nine (for the lack of a better word), tactically speaking. All three games were impacted positively by the presence of a pseudo striker.
It wasn’t a fairytale ending for these sides but their stories will make a long lasting impact on their nations.
Let’s breakdown some bits from today’s action
Match 19: Japan 2-0 Costa Rica
Japan had produced one of the most dominant performances of the first round, having emphatically dispatched Zambia. Their back three formation with excellent wide players carved Zambia open at will and they showed effectiveness in front of goal.
In their second game, Nadeshiko Japan made four changes from the last game and still looked just as threatening. Hina Sugita replaced Jun Endo at left wingback after the youngster’s brilliant performance last time and she put in a quality shift as well.
Japan scored in quick succession doubling their lead inside two minutes in the first half through both their wingers in the game, Hikaru Naomoto and Aoba Fujino. While Fujino’s goal was more about individual brilliance (you should definitely watch that goal, this kid is ridiculously talented and a delight on the carry) from the country’s youngest ever goalscorer at the World Cup. Naomoto’s goal underlined an interesting and key tactical bit from the game.
Mina Tanaka was deployed in a false nine role and made a brilliant impact on proceedings. Tanaka was constantly seen dropping into that central space, disengaging from the backline to receive in zone 14 and then pick out passes for the wide players making a run in behind.
We can notice this evidently in her pass reception map as well. She received a total of 15 progressive passes where a heavy chunk of them were received right in front of the penalty box in zone 14. She was the constant middleman for Japan’s switches to the other side and served as a chance creator. She created five shots for her side, highest in the team.
A quick look at Japan’s opening goal further emphazises her role further. Look at how she drops off from the last line to receive the switch ball and then plays the ball in behind for Naomoto in behind to finish it off. These movements were staple from the 29-year-old forward.
A lot of Japan’s moves during progression were straight out of the training ground as Costa Rica didn’t test them enough. Futoshi Ikeda’s side were easily able to bait their press and play through it with simple out-to-in passes by the touchline to progress the play.
This sequence of play 10 minutes before the goal highlights how Japan easily baited Costa Rica’s press by some movements from their wingbacks and midfielders to open up spaces higher up the field. We can once again see Tanaka’s role in chance creation as the false nine to then switch the direction from one flank to the other, acting as the link tissue.
The goal stemmed from a similar pattern of play.
For Costa Rica, things didn’t look great defensively. They jumped too early and looked out of sync most times as well. Goalkeeper Daniela Solera was once again in the limelight for the volume and quality of the saves she made. The 26-year-old goalkeeper made 10+ saves again becoming the first goalkeeper since 2011 to do so in two different games.
Japan will face Spain in the headlining clash for Group C to decide who finishes top of the group. Both sides have shown very strong ideas in possession and have pressed well and created lots of chances as well. It promises to be an interesting tactical battle for the neutral.
Match 20: Spain 5-0 Zambia
Spain once again went rampant in the group stages of the FIFA WWC 2023. This time scoring five goals and adding to the misery of debutants Zambia, who conceded five in the first game against Japan as well. They became the third side to concede 5+ goals in back to back games at the World Cup.
It was largely one way traffic with Spain causing a lot of problems with their wide overloads, especially on the left hand side. Alexia Putellas combined with Olga Carmona, Mariona Caldentey and Jenni Hermoso to create multiple chances for the team. The first two goals both stem from combination play on the left flank and some clever third player runs.
We can note this from Spain’s passing network as well, which has strong exchanges all across but has a clear left sided bias for overloads. Zambia, on the other hand, always looked to play direct to Barbra Banda and Rachael Kundananji to carry and create the threat on transition situations.
Banda especially looked threatening especially on her carries, she was able to take on multiple players, attack the box and twist and turn to generate space and progress play. She was constantly offering in behind and was the nation’s best line breaking carrier. The Spanish backline, who aggressively pushed high up with just one center-back defending at times, struggled to match the pace but were aided with some ineffectiveness on the ball inside the penalty box.
Like Japan, La Roja were able to bait Zambia’s unsynchronized press and easily progress to the final third by having 1v1 technical superiority all over the pitch. One can see how the midfielders aggressively push up and initiate combinations right in front of the penalty box to create chances for the team. The sequence above is a prime example of this, inviting pressure (albeit weak and uncoordinated) to play through it mechanism.
Jenni Hermoso, who was leading the attack (at least on paper) on her 100th appearance, floated all across the pitch and provided support in possession. She was the striker in theory but not entirely in practice and it is something we have grown to learn about the 33-year-old.
She dropped into the midfield to turn a bit like the facilitator while making late entries into the box herself. The former Barcelona forward took on players and showcased her quick feet to get the better of them in 1v1 situations. She ended up scoring a brace and providing an assist, making it a very complete performance from her.
Teresa Abelleira was once again the passing hub for the side from the deeper midfield position. She recorded 100+ passes once again and it wasn’t just her passing volume that stood out but the young midfielder from Real Madrid also scored a spectacular goal from outside the box. She was alert defensively and played an important role in the side’s progression mechanism.
Some of her set-piece deliveries were peach as well and she did an excellent job without the ball to recover possession and mop up the transition threat from Zambia.
The game ended on a sour note as the 83rd minute substitute, Athenea del Castillo, ended up with an injury in what seemed like an ankle issue. The Real Madrid winger couldn’t finish the game on the pitch and had to be carried away from the field while looking distraught.
The first two challenges for Spain and Japan were easy mode and now they will have to face each other for the top spot in the group and given how the two teams setup (wide overloads, a false nine forward linking play, their counterpress) this will be a brilliant tactical battle that might boil down to the team’s endurance and physicality.
Match 21: Canada 2-1 Ireland
This game had everything. The astounding display of individual brilliance, impact substitutions, comeback, drama and heartbreak. It was a game that visibly shifted momentum as the game went on.
Having lost their opening game to Australia, Ireland needed something from this game to remain in the running for the next round. Canada hoped to bounce back from their poor showing last time out against Nigeria.
The game was off to a historic and utterly ridiculous start. Perth was bouncing after Ireland captain, Katie McCabe, scored the most outrageous goal of the tournament and a potential front runner for the goal of the tournament.
In the fourth minute of the game, McCabe scored a very deliberate looking Olimpico (a direct goal from corner). She picked up on the positioning of Canada’s goalkeeper, Kailen Sheridan, and put enough curl and lift on the ball to beat her at the far post.
The Arsenal player became the first goalscorer in the country’s history at the Women’s World Cup, exactly 33 years after Kevin Sheedy scored the country’s first ever goal at the Men’s World Cup. Surprisingly both donned the #11 jersey for their national side.
The Irish intensity had rattled the Canadians, who had made a two changes to their lineup. Chelsea’s star midfielder, Jessie Fleming, was back in the starting XI and Evelyne Viens was introduced from the kick-off in place of veteran Christine Sinclair.
Ireland were intense and were on the heels of the Canadians, trying to generate turnovers and shots high up the field. This worked for large parts of the first half until a lucky deflection changed the momentum entirely (that and Ireland running a bit out of gas).
Canada equalized in the fifth minute of added time in the first half when a hopeful ball in from the left took a kind deflection in heavy rain to go beyond Ireland’s goalkeeper. The “no official nickname” team made three subs in the second half and that completely broke the game.
The introduction of Shelina Zadorsky, Christine Sinclair and Sophie Schmidt gave the North Americans a lot more control over the proceedings. Sinclair who was deployed as the striker served as a link player drifting wide and combining with her wingers who were instructed to attack the vacated central space, operating very much as a pseudo striker.
Canada especially used their left hand side for these combinations to then target the right winger (Adriana Leon) who had made the run into the box.
If we look at how Bev Priestman’s side penetrated the box, we can see some pattern with the volume of entries coming from the highlighted zone above. The go-ahead goal stemmed from this exact pattern of play, where Sophie Schmidt picked out Leon’s run perfectly via a pass from that highlighted zone.
Canada then continued their ascendancy and found it easy to asset themselves on the ball with Schmidt in the lineup as Ireland started to panic and rush a lot of their possession sequences. Priestman’s side came close on some other ocassion in the second half.
McCabe put in a memorable performance and rose to the ocassion in the best possible way. Beyond the Olimpico, the Irish captain was single handedly trying to create multiple good chances, taking on a stream of Canadians and coming out of it unscathed. She was phenomenal in defence as well, recovering and quickly progress play.
She has the clutch big game gene to her and a knack of scoring bangers as was evident today.
Kyra Carusa had a brilliant performance at striker in the first half, when she absolutely smoked Kadeisha Buchanan for pace and physicality in receiving and turning those long balls to her. She maintained good balance during the challenges and generated a yard or two on her marker pretty easily. Buchanan, who was deemed to have picked up a knock, looked two steps too slow to deal with Carusa in any shape.
Jordyn Huitema had a good game from a wide left starting position. She played very well off of Sinclair, coming narrow and attacking the central zones without having to carry herself. She was able to get on the end of shots and tested the opposition keeper with her. Her positioning enabled her to serve as an outlet for switching the point of attack as well. This role probably suits her the best at the current moment.
Canada will face the co-hosts Australia in Melbourne in front of probably an even bigger crowd for a place at the top of the group.
Highlight of the day
The birth of McLegend