By Alyce Collett 21/2/25
Above: Mary Fowler is swarmed by Japan’s press. Photo: Genevieve Henry for Impetus
It has been a disastrous start to the 2025 SheBelieves Cup for Australia, who lost to Japan 4-0 this morning in what was Japan’s biggest win over The Matildas.
Japan showed why they are the leading team in Asia as slick passing, strong defensive work and goals from Mina Tanaka, Maika Hamano and Moeka Minami left Australia a shell of its usual self, and no match for Japan.
Although it was the Matildas who got the first look at goal, Japan were the ones to take true control of possession first, with the likes of Yui Hasegawa, Aoba Fujino and Saki Kumagai very busy early.
It was not long before Japan’s pressure was rewarded, with Mina Tanaka able to trickle a shot into the back of the net. The defensive efforts from the Matildas were poor, with no one really putting in much effort to try and stop the shot.
The goal just encapsulated how far on the back foot the Matildas were in the early parts of the match.
The Matildas really struggled to get the ball out of their defensive half as the Japanese press and defensive system looked strong, which was in stark contrast to the Matildas’ defence that was shaky and unconfident at best.
Australia finally got a decent look on goal just before the half hour mark, but unfortunately for the Matildas Caitlin Foord was judged to have been offside.
Another moment of non existent confidence in the Matildas defence saw Tanaka able to add a second goal to her tally just after the half an hour mark, and something had to drastically change with the Matildas or things were going to go downhill even further fast.
As much as the likes of Caitlin Foord and Ellie Carpenter were trying their hardest to keep their side in the game, everyone else could not overpower their Japanese opponents.
In a sign of how drastically in control Japan were in the first half, the Japanese recorded seven shots (with three being on target), compared to Australia’s zero. Japan also had 64% of possession compared to Australia’s 36%.
The Matildas had a bit more of a spring in their system to start the second half, and quickly had some positive attacking play that just didn’t happen in the second half, thanks to some hard work from Carpenter and Hayley Raso.
However it wasn’t long before Japan got back in control, and have a third on the board with Tanaka setting up Hamano who slotted one easily past Mackenzie Arnold.
Despite being so far on the back foot, the Matildas did not make any substitutions until just over the hour mark, and although making plenty all at once, some of the choices would have left some fans scratching their head in confusion.
Japan was not done scoring, as Minami headed the ball in and converted a well placed corner.
Australia did have a few attacking plays in the second half, but the Japanese defence was far too strong, and was quick to neutralise any threat that came their way. This was in stark contrast to the Matildas, who continued to be shaky, unconfident and easily exploitable.
Despite just about everything going against them, the Matildas finally recorded a shot on goal in the 87th minute, as Charli Grant almost lobbed in a goal but was denied by the woodwork.
However that final whistle could not have come soon enough for the Matildas, who now have plenty to think about head of the next game against the USA.
Check out Genevieve Henry’s EXCLUSIVE photos for Impetus from the match on our Instagram page @ImpetusFootball
Teams: JAPAN (4-3-3): Yamashita, Takahashi, Koga, Minami, Kitagawa, Hasagewa, Kumagai, Nagano, Hamano, Tanaka, Fujino. SUBSTITUTES: Takarafa, Miyazawa, Matsukubo, Ueki, Hirao, Tanikawa, Hayashi, Chiba, Miura, Moriya, Momiki, Okuma.
Scorers: Tanaka 6’, 32’, Hamano 52’, Minami 75’,
AUSTRALIA (4-2-3-1): Arnold, Catley, Hunt, Kennedy, Carpenter, Cooney-Cross, Gorry, Yallop, Fowler, Raso, Foord. SUBSTITUTES: Heyman, Heatley, Prior, Murphy, Torpey, van Egmond, Micah, Galic, McNamara, Lincoln, Freier, Grant.
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