For former champions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, there was a distinct lack of hype surrounding Japan heading into this edition in Australia and New Zealand.
Nadeshiko were a conspicuous absentee in pre-tournament chatter on potential title contenders — largely just because they were a tricky team to gauge before a ball had even been kicked compared to others such as United States, Spain, Germany and England.
Two games into their campaign, signs are suggesting that the Japanese could yet belong in that bracket.
On Wednesday, Japan made it two wins from two in Group C as they cruised to a 2-0 victory over Costa Rica — courtesy of two goals in three first-half minutes from Hikaru Naomoto and Aoba Fujino — to back up their opening 5-0 rout of Zambia.
They could find themselves through to the round of 16 with a game to spare as soon as later in the day, should Spain beat the Zambians as expected to join them on six points and eliminate the other two from contention.
Even a draw in that game would be enough for the Japanese.
So just how have they managed to fly under the radar given the impressive start they have made?
Firstly, it must be recognised that Japan’s two victories so far were ties they were expected to win, even if there was a slight chance that Costa Rica might have been optimistic in their prospects of pulling off an upset.
Futoshi Ikeda’s charges are not all of a sudden title favourites just because they have picked up six points from their opening couple of outings, but the manner in which they did suggests they could be challengers.
At the very least, they should be a real chance to improve on their last-16 elimination from four years ago, although the luck of the draw will always be a factor.
That earlier-than-expected exit at the last World Cup was followed by a similarly disappointing semifinal elimination at last year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup despite their status as two-time defending champions.
Two below-par finishes in major tournaments led to queries whether the Asian powerhouses might be on the decline.
