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The nerves of the first game played a trick on Spain in their debut in the U-17 Women's World Cup. Japan, one of the candidates to fight for the title of champions, was clearly superior to the Spanish team and two set-piece actions were enough to take the first three points of the tournament. Sandra Hernández from Lanzarote jumped onto the field at the start of the second half, giving Spain's game a little more criteria in the center of the field. The Canary Islander Andrea Sánchez played the 90 minutes of the match.
Spain started the match with a warning. In the first minute of the game, Andrea Sánchez received a ball on the left edge of the area and her shot at goal went too wide. Spain's first warning was just a mirage, and Japan gradually took control of the ball. With a fast game on the wing, they repeatedly overwhelmed the Spanish full-backs, and Spain's midfield was unable to keep the ball in their possession.
The match could have changed radically in the 17th minute. A steal in Japan's ball exit allowed Nahikari to be alone against Mamiko Matsumoto, but the Spanish striker's shot would end up crashing into the body of the Japanese goalkeeper. The dominance of the Japanese increased as the minutes passed. Sugita tried in the 29th minute with a shot from the right edge that did not find the three posts of the goal defended by Elena de Toro.
One of the clearest chances of the first half came in the 32nd minute. Miyagawa won the back of the Spanish defense, stood alone inside the area and her shot went close to the base of the post. The reward for Japan's better game would come in the 43rd minute of the match. A closed corner kick that Elena del Toro cleared with difficulty and in the goal mouth, Miyagawa headed into the back of the net. The score was 0-1 at halftime.
The national coach, Jorge Vilda, tried to reinforce the midfield at the start of the second half and brought on Sandra Hernández from Lanzarote. The player, who was trained in the ranks of Orientación Marítima and is currently a footballer for Sant Gabriel, gave Spain more presence in the center of the field. Sandra took advantage of the 45 minutes that the coach gave her to have the ball, move it with criteria and look for through balls.
Things for Spain ended up getting complicated in the 5th minute of the second half. Japan quickly took a lateral free kick, and Matsubara took advantage of the lack of tension in the Spanish defense to make it 0-2. A bucket of cold water for Spain, falling defeated against one of the teams that are in all the pools to fight for the title of champions.
Until the end of the match, Spain tried, with most of the attacking actions dying in the vicinity of the Japan area. With the 0-2 defeat against Japan, the match came to an end. Spain's second match will be on Wednesday from 23:00 hours against New Zealand. A match in which only victory is enough to continue maintaining the options of being in the quarter-final round.
Technical Sheet
Spain (0): Elena de Toro, Nuria Garrote (Cintia 67), Beatriz Beltrán, Silvia Mérida, Pilar Garrote, Nahikari, Mireya García (Laura Domínguez 61), Patri, Andrea Sánchez, Aitana (Sandra Hernández 46) and Queralt Gómez
Japan (2): Mamiko Matsumoto, Shiho Matsubara, Hikaru Kitagawa (Maki Hiratsuka 82), Nana Ichise, Asato Miyagawa, Rikako Kobayashi, Yui Hasegawa, Hina Sugita, Rana Okuma, Fuka Nagano, Yu Endo
Goals
0-1: minute 43, Miyagawa
0-2: minute 43, Matsubara
Referee: Cardella Samuells (Jamaica)
Incidents: Ricardo Saprissa Aymá Stadium in Tibas. Match corresponding to the first day of Group C of the U-17 Women's World Cup
