Australia will play Japan in a Women's World Cup 2015 quarter final game on Saturday as the teams compete for a place in the last four of the competition. Current World Cup holders, Japan, will be big favorites here but this Australian team has enjoyed causing upsets and they will hope to shock even more people today by taking down the reigning champs. Today's game has a scheduled start time of 4 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the Fox Sports 1 network, or online through live stream via the link below.
Australia have been a joy to watch at this year's tournament. They got their World Cup off to a tough start, losing to the United States 1-3 to leave their qualification in doubt. However, they bounced back in their second game by defeating Africa's top team, Nigeria, 2-0 helping to lift confidence in the camp.
A 1-1 draw with Sweden in their last group game was well deserved after a hard fought battle with the very talented European team.
If their accomplishments in the group stages were admirable and hard earned, their achievement in the Round of 16 was simply spectacular, defeating Brazil 1-0 to spark one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far.
That result will give them confidence that they can compete against Japan today, and if they can keep things tight then the will believe, just like against Brazil, that they can sneak a winner.
Japan though have had a very solid World Cup so far, and have lived up to their billing as one of the best technical teams in the tournament. They are solid in defense and patient going forward, keeping the ball well and passing confidently to create openings in opposition defenses.
The reigning World Cup champs started their tournament with a 1-0 win over Switzerland, before overcoming a very dynamic and tough Cameroon team 2-1.
They ensured they finished the group stages with a perfect record by defeating Ecuador 1-0, and in the Round of 16 they ran out 2-1 winners against the Netherlands.
After only conceding two goals in the tournament so far, only the United States and Canada have a better defensive record than Japan. Australia may find it extremely tough to break down this Japanese team, and will likely have to soak up a lot of pressure from the World champs and try and hit Japan more on the counter or through set pieces.
Whether this game against the World Cup title holders is a game too far for this Australian team, or whether they can trump their shocking win over Brazil with another victory here today remains to be seen, but this is a game anyone following the Women's World Cup in Canada will surely not want to miss.
Today's big Women's World Cup 2015 game between Japan and Australia has a scheduled start time of 4 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the Fox Sports 1 network or online through live stream by clicking here.
