Women among girls

Scoreline - September 11, 2007
Japan: 2
Miyama 55', 95'
England: 2
Smith 81', 83'

In the battle for who gets to finish behind the Germans in group A, England and Japan managed a tie. Fitting, since each played lousy as a team - and each laid claim to a standout individual performance.

While it would be fair to say Japan is an excellent defensive team - someone needs to remind them that in soccer - offense isn't optional. Japan's strategy seems to be "defend until a goal is gifted to you by God Almighty, then defend." Attacking in force (hell attacking at all) never seems to occur to them. Good passing, fabulous coordination in defense but hey - send a few players into the box once in awhile, eh?

Both goals were scored on free kicks by Aya Miyama- and they were sparkling examples of precision placement. This lady has talent, but she can't substitute for attackers in the box. No way she carries this team forward.

By contrast - England is aware of the need for offense, they just don't do it very well. Eniola Aluko, their inexperienced forward, demonstrated this until even her coach got sick of her and subbed her out. Shooting from impossible angles, not shooting with a clear path to net, missing sitters, and (my pet peeve) giving away possession on something fancy - when she could have simply waited for help. England's defense was hardly challenged by Japan's "hope for a foul" offense, so there's little good news there.

England has one thing that should propel them into the knockout rounds: Kelly Smith
Down 1-0 and in the last 15 minutes of regulation, England benched the neophyte, Aluko. This meant Kelly Smith became the main attacker - and she went flat out. For soccer forwards, as it is for venture capitalists, greed is good. She stopped looking to pass, started demanding the ball and scored two goals in a span of two minutes. Both were individual efforts, bursting through defenders and slamming home quality shots. Like Miyama, she was her team's offensive effort. Unlike Miyama, Smith's kind of offense will win games in the long run.

Killer instinct and lots of ability. England will go as far as Kelly Smith takes them. It's just a damn shame she's 28 - It looks like England will need her to carry the team in the next World Cup as well.