Japan clobber Nigeria

By MELTON PAIS
JAPAN thrashed Nigeria 6-0 in their opening group B match of the Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup at Bava Park Stadium in Port Moresby last night.
Japanese midfielder Yuka Momiki and forward Mami Ueno shared in the spoils as their team outclassed Nigeria on a warm night —Momiki scored a double and Ueno scored a hat-trick of goals while Nigeria’s Mary Ologbosere scored an own goal on a disaapointing night for the Falconets.
Japan coach Asako Takakura congratulated her side for the big win over a normally strong Nigeria, who made the final of the 2014 edition of the tournament.
She said their next game against Spain on Wednesday would be a tougher test because of their 5-0 dismantling of Canada in the opening match of the day.
Takakura said despite Spain’s ability to match Japan across the park, she would not be changing the general approach or their style of play particularly as it had worked against Nigeria.
“We have won the first match in our pool but we still have to face Spain, who were equal contenders in this group after beating Canada,” Takakura said.
She said Spain were the only side in group B who posed the biggest threat to her side.
“We are feeling good because we did not have any big injuries,” she added.
The Asian champion’s clinical style complemented by their near-perfect control proved a level above the Africans, who looked bereft of ideas on how to break down Japan’s smart defence.
The athletic Nigerians pushed hard for a goal on several occasions but most of their raids were defused by Japan and although the game opened with an intense 25 minutes of action, nothing come of it until Momiki slammed home the first goal in the 34th minute and Ueno bagged the second for Japan three minutes later.
Japan led 2-0 at halftime and the crowd waited for the Falconets to show something in the second stanza but as hard as they tried, Japan’s class and pacing was proved a mountain too high to scale.
The win puts Japan and Canada in commanding positions in the group with Wednesday’s showdown likely to decide who finishes on top.
For Nigeria, their clash with Canada on Wednesday is likely for the third place in the group.
Japan 6 (Yuka Momiki 34th, 51, Mami Ueno 37, 62, 82, Mary Ologbosere 56 OG) Nigeria 0.