SYDNEY, Aug 1 — Co-hosts Australia trounced Canada 4-0 to advance to the knockout stages, while Nigeria also moved forward despite a 0-0 draw with debutants Ireland at the FIFA Women’s World Cup on Monday.Australia concluded the group stage top of Group B with six points, while Nigeria secured second place with five points. Olympic champions Canada were eliminated with four points, while bottom-placed Ireland claimed their first-ever World Cup point from the draw.Rebounding from a surprising 3-2 defeat to Nigeria, Australia delivered a superb performance before 27,706 fans in Melbourne. Unfazed by the previous setback, the Matildas saw Hayley Raso score twice in the first half as they took control.Mary Fowler and Steph Catley added goals in the second half, ending Canada’s disappointing campaign.”I’m so proud of the girls. Everybody fought for each other, and to come away with a pretty convincing win is very exciting,” Raso said. “I think we had our backs to the wall after the last game, and we knew that we needed to come out and put in a big performance. We showed that never-say-die attitude and gave it our all tonight.”The game in Brisbane failed to impress, but the result was enough for Nigeria to reach the round of 16. Nigeria forward Uchenna Kanu thought she had finally broken Ireland’s resistance in the 51st minute, but her powerful header was brilliantly saved by acrobatic goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan.That was the best opportunity of the game, and Nigeria’s players celebrated after the final whistle knowing they had secured a spot in the knockout stage.
Ueki Riko (front) celebrates a goal during Japan’s Group C win over Spain. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)Earlier, Japan thrashed Spain 4-0 in an upset, signaling a strong warning ahead of their clash with Norway in the round of 16. The Asian heavyweights finished top of Group C in aggressive fashion, scoring three goals during a dominant first half.Playing in front of 20,957 fans in Wellington, Japan were unstoppable on the counter-attack, with Hinata Miyazawa scoring twice either side of a strike from Riko Ueki in the 29th minute. Japan’s rout was complete when substitute Mina Tanaka scored in the 82nd minute.”Once we recovered the ball we tried to have maximum speed. I thought we were quite effective,” said coach Futoshi Ikeda, despite Japan only having 22 percent of possession during the game.Spain will now face Group A winners Switzerland in the round of 16.”We have not seen the best of the Spain team, and I’m sure against Switzerland we will react positively,” said Spain coach Jorge Vilda.In another match, debutants Zambia celebrated their first-ever World Cup win after defeating Costa Rica 3-1 in Hamilton. Lushomo Mweemba scored after just two minutes and 11 seconds, setting the fastest goal of the tournament and putting Zambia on track in a clash between teams whose hopes of progressing had already ended.China’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages will be tested against European champions England in one of the four games scheduled for Tuesday.
Xinhua
