Japan beat Netherlands 2-1 to enter top 8

Japan still showed no clue of ambition to defend the World Cup title although they beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the round of 16 on Tuesday at Vancouver.

Japan won all their four matches by one-goal margin so far in the tournament.

Facing lowly teams like Cameroon, Switzerland and Ecuador, the defending champions scored only four goals.

Tuesday's match saw the Japanese lead 2-0 with one goal in each half, but a mistake by goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori awarded a goal to the Dutch.

Japan will face Australia, who upset Brazil 1-0 to advance. But a hard-fought win over the Dutch and three close group victories give them little confidence to face stronger opponents.

Japan scored early as they did in the other games. Yuki Ogimi headed onto the bar and Saori Ariyoshi got the deflection and scored with ease after 10 minutes.

Then the Japanese stopped attacking after leading 1-0 and dominated the match with a well-organized midfield.

Kaihori did well to punch out a close range effort from Mandy Van De Ven in the 76th minute.

It proved a costly miss for the Dutch as Japan scored on the following possession. After a series of dazzling teamwork in the penalty area, Mizuho Sakaguchi fired home with her left foot to make it 2-0 after 78 minutes.

Everybody thought Japan would pocket a convincing win when Kaihori could not hold a powerless shot from Van Den Ven and the ball slipped from her palm and into the net in the injury time. Enditem