Japan rocks, part II

Japanese defender Aya Sameshima, a real sweety-pie

Today is Ocean Day in Japan, and my Japanese friend I watched the game with last night says that everyone goes out to the beach today.

I expected the final of the women's World Cup to be exciting, but it exceeded my expectations. I saw Japan shut down undefeated Sweden, and I saw the US rally back against Brazil and France. Lots of commentators over here compared Japan to Barca, confirming my impression that they controlled the ball with short passes a bit like the Spanish national team. So I expected Japan to dominate the game, but if any team could pull victory from the jaws of defeat, the US could.

In fact, Japan was lucky to still be in the game after the first 15 minutes, and it was them who rallied back, though they never managed to control the ball the way I expected.

My Japanese friend says that two of the players on the national team are actually from the Fukushima area. One of them is left defender Aya Sameshima, who is a joy to watch – and look at. Since her team's facilities were destroyed, she apparently moved to the US and now plays for Boston.

So congratulations to the Japanese, and I hope you enjoy your day off at the beach.