WOLFSBURG Germany -- Japan knocked two-time defending champion Germany out of the Women's World Cup on Saturday, advancing to the semifinals with a 1-0 win when substitute Karina Maruyama outran the defense and scored on an angled shot in extra time.
Japan absorbed relentless pressure during the match, gaining its first World Cup semifinal and handing Germany its first loss in the tournament in a dozen years.
Standout midfielder Homare Sawa spotted Maruyama's deep run in the 108th minute, served her perfectly and Maruyama slipped it past goalie Nadine Angerer to silence the sellout crowd of 26,067 and an expectant nation.
Germany threw everything forward in the final dozen minutes, but it didn't matter. As throughout the tension-filled match, the bounces didn't go the hosts' way.
"I am so happy. We all fought together until the end," Maruyama said. "It was not my success, but that of the whole team."
Germany's fear of elimination appeared to douse its creativity and the quarterfinal turned into a test of survival. In the end it was the "Japanese game" that coach Norio Sasaki promised that made the difference -- one precision pass and lightness of feet outdid two hours of grinding and pushing by the hosts.
Germany had not lost a World Cup game going back to a quarterfinal defeat to the United States in 1999.
The loss also meant the likely end of the World Cup career of Birgit Prinz, Germany's best player and the tournament's all-time leading scorer. After two disappointing games, she was benched for the last group game and again in the quarterfinal. She came off to shake hands.
After the game, the Japanese players united behind a Japanese banner saying, "To our friends around the world -- Thank you for your support," recognizing the global aid in the wake of the deadly earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March.
Japan absorbed relentless pressure during the match, gaining its first World Cup semifinal and handing Germany its first loss in the tournament in a dozen years.
Standout midfielder Homare Sawa spotted Maruyama's deep run in the 108th minute, served her perfectly and Maruyama slipped it past goalie Nadine Angerer to silence the sellout crowd of 26,067 and an expectant nation.
Germany threw everything forward in the final dozen minutes, but it didn't matter. As throughout the tension-filled match, the bounces didn't go the hosts' way.
"I am so happy. We all fought together until the end," Maruyama said. "It was not my success, but that of the whole team."
Germany's fear of elimination appeared to douse its creativity and the quarterfinal turned into a test of survival. In the end it was the "Japanese game" that coach Norio Sasaki promised that made the difference -- one precision pass and lightness of feet outdid two hours of grinding and pushing by the hosts.
Germany had not lost a World Cup game going back to a quarterfinal defeat to the United States in 1999.
The loss also meant the likely end of the World Cup career of Birgit Prinz, Germany's best player and the tournament's all-time leading scorer. After two disappointing games, she was benched for the last group game and again in the quarterfinal. She came off to shake hands.
After the game, the Japanese players united behind a Japanese banner saying, "To our friends around the world -- Thank you for your support," recognizing the global aid in the wake of the deadly earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March.
Dante
The USA plays Brazil in an elimination game tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. EDT. The other game tomorrow is Sweden versus Austrialia at 7:00 a.m. EDT.
So far France beat England (1-1 at the end of 90+ minutes of regulation) and after 30 minutes of overtime, and no scoring, on penalty kicks (4-3) and Japan beat Germany (0-0 at the end of 90+ minutes of regulation) but scored in overtime (1-0) to advance to the semi-finals. Both games were excellent.
The USA plays Brazil in an elimination game tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. EDT. The other game tomorrow is Sweden versus Austrialia at 7:00 a.m. EDT.
So far France beat England (1-1 at the end of 90+ minutes of regulation) and after 30 minutes of overtime, and no scoring, on penalty kicks (4-3) and Japan beat Germany (0-0 at the end of 90+ minutes of regulation) but scored in overtime (1-0) to advance to the semi-finals. Both games were excellent.
