KYODO NEWS – 6 hours ago – 12:50 | Sports, All
Substitute Maika Hamano hit a brace as Japan came from behind to hammer New Zealand 4-1 in a women’s football international friendly on Monday.
Following a comfortable 2-0 win on Friday in the first of their two-match series in Murcia, Spain, Nadeshiko Japan were handed a trickier test this time around but responded well in the second half of their final game before the 18-member Paris Olympics squad is announced.
Seventh-ranked Japan went behind in the 22nd minute when Milly Clegg beat Hana Takahashi down the left and blasted high into the net for 28th-ranked New Zealand.
Twenty-year-old Hamano came on as part of a triple substitution at the break and the Chelsea attacker made an impact in the 49th minute when her volley from outside the box found the left bottom corner to draw Japan level.
Hamano then steered home her second on the hour mark after Yui Hasegawa’s chipped pass with a quickly taken free kick sent her clean through on goal.
Another 20-year-old, Aoba Fujino, beat New Zealand keeper Anna Leat from 20 meters out in the 66th minute before Remina Chiba poked home Japan’s fourth with 10 minutes to go at Estadio Nueva Condomina.
Futoshi Ikeda’s side will play Ghana in their last warm-up game on July 13 in Ishikawa Prefecture before facing Spain, Brazil and Nigeria in Group C in Paris.
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KYODO NEWS – 6 hours ago – 12:50 | Sports, All
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