On the 11th Day 4 of the East Asian Women’s Football Championships 2010 Finals Competition was held with Japan playing Chinese Taipei. 16 year old FW IWABUCHI Mana scored her first goal ever for her country and added another as Japan won 3-0 to make it back to back victories. They move up into first place as they look more likely to hold on to the title but face second placed Korea Rep. in their final match on the 13th. On the same day Chinese Taipei will play 3rd placed China PR.

Japan’s new star IWABUCHI forcefully removed Chinese Taipei’s reputation for having a strong defense. Japan started with 8 players in the starting line up different to their first match versus China PR and held on to the ball well right from the kick off. In the 2nd minute MF MIYAMA Aya’s right sided FK rebounded to MF SYGAWARA Yuika who tried her luck and in the 19th minute MF KIRYU Nanase’s shot was further indication of Japan‘s attacking pressure. However Chinese Taipei kept them out thanks to the skill and judgment of their centre backs LIN Man Ting and YU Hsiu Chi. They defended their goal from attempts to get in behind the defensive line, set pieces and crosses alike. In the 26th minute a rebound from a Japan corner fell to KIRYU who shot left footed but it was blocked by a defender and went wide. In the 28th minute FW TAKASE Megumi leapt for a cross from the left but Chinese Taipei GK HUANG Feng Chiu leapt higher to snuff out the danger.

Chinese Taipei MF HSIEH I Ling gave everything in mid-field to disrupt the opposition’s passing and made life difficult for Japan. However in the 36th minute MIYAMA made an interception and beat a defender with her dribbling. She got to the goal line and cut it back nicely. IWABUCHI jumped at the near post and as she put it “Miyama-san made a great play and cut it back well, I just met the ball” as she hit it first time with her left foot to score her first international goal in to the top left hand corner.

Japan had the advantage but Chinese Taipei continued to be hard to break down in the penalty area. In the 55th minute MF NAKANO Manami broke down the left side and floated a cross. IWABUCHI shot and the GK HUANG Feng Chiu blocked it with the rebound falling to TAKASE who shot again but once more it was saved by HUANG. The scorer of the second goal was once again IWABUCHI but this timed from a new position in right mid-field. In the 59th minute NAKANO got the ball and dribbled around her marker to play a low cross. IWABUCHI slid in at the far post to finish the move and make it 2-0.

In the 58th minute Japan brought on their star, SAWA Homare which also changed the speed of their attacks and helped break down their opponents. In the 85th minute SAWA on the left passed for TAKASE who beat her defender and crisply shot the ball across the face of goal into the corner of the net. The match finished 3-0 to Japan and was their 5th straight win since the 2008 Finals Competition up until this East Asian Women’s Championships. In a match they started with 7 players who had less than 5 caps and completely outplayed their opponents finishing with a shot count total of 24-1 head coach SASAKI Norio said “I thought we’d be intimidated by the environment (national stadium) but we just played better and better. There is high value in us winning 3-0 in a 90 minute match.” As for losing team, Chinese Taipei who lost in the 2008 AFC Women’s Asian Cup to Japan 0-11 there was also a big step up for them. FW TSENG Shu O was proud saying “Everyone did well. On the defensive end we played well” and head coach CHOU Tai Ying praised her hardworking team saying “We were mostly defending but the players kept going until the end. Our ball retention wasn’t ideal but the main content of the match was good.”