Zambia kicked off their 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup campaign with a 5-0 defeat against Japan at FMG Stadium Waikato on Saturday.
Goals in either half courtesy of Hinata Miyazawa, who scored a double in the 43rd and 62nd minutes, Mina Tanka’s strike in the 55th minute, Jun Endo in the 71st minute, and Riko Ueki’s effort from the penalty spot in the added minutes of the stoppages, were enough to humiliate the Copper Queens, who are making their debut in the tournament, in the Group C contest.
It was Japan, who started the game on a high note with forward Tanaka looking lively and in the fourth minute she made a good long-range pass that fell into the feet of the unmarked Yui Hasegawa but the latter took time to hit the target allowing Zambia defender Agness Musase to close in and clear the danger.
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Japan continued to dominate and in the 20th minute Jun Endo whipped in a great ball from the right which was met by Tanaka, who controlled it and found the of the net but after a VAR check, it was ruled out for offside.
Zambia started to settle into the game in the 36th minute when Ireen Lungu released Racheal Kundananji but her shot from the outside the box was well gathered by goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita. In the 40th minute, Zambia were kept in the game by keeper Catherine Musonda, who made a superb save to deny Fuka Nagano after Tanaka had done the spadework.
However, Zambia finally cracked with two minutes left to the half-time break when Miyazawa controlled the ball to let it fly past Musonda. In the 50th minute, Japan thought they had doubled their lead when Tanaka’s effort hit the target but the goal was once again overruled by VAR to the relief of Zambia players and fans.
Two minutes later, Zambia’s Musonda was booked for a clumsy challenge which almost resulted in a penalty that was not given by VAR, and in the 55th minute, Tanaka finally scored, finding space in the box to slide home for the second. Miyawa added the third when she raced to meet a well-worked cross from Tanaka to put the ball beyond the advancing Musonda before Endo added the fourth.
Zambia were reduced to 10 players when Musonda was shown a second yellow card for pulling down a player resulting in a penalty. The Copper Queens resorted to bringing in Eunice Sakala, and she did well to repel the penalty before Ueki scored from the rebound to make it 5-0.
Zambia under coach Bruce Mwape will return to action against Spain at Eden Park on Wednesday while Japan will entertain Costa Rica at Forsyth Barr Stadium. Spain kicked off their campaign with a 3-0 victory against Costa Rica at Wellington Regional Stadium on Saturday.
Line-ups; Zambia: 1-Musonda (GK) — 8-Belemu, 15-Musase, 3-Mweemba (Phiri 82′), 13-Tembo — 4-S.Banda, 12-Katongo, 14-Lungu (Lubandji 71′), 17-Kundananji — 11-B.Banda, 19-Mapepa (Chitundu 71′(Sakala 110′).
Japan: 1-Yamashita (GK) — 23-Ishikawa, 4-Kumagai, 3-Minami — 2-Shimizu, 14-Hasegawa, 10-Nagano, 13-Endo (Naomoto 75′) — 15-Fujino (Sieke 75′), 7-Miyazawa (Chiba 93′) — 11-Tanaka (Ueki 65′).