Women’s World Cup on TV: Japan and England battle for positioning
What to watch for in the Women’s World Cup soccer tournament on Wednesday:
GROUP D
JAPAN VS. ENGLAND
Where: Stade de Nice, Nice
Time: noon PDT
TV: FS1
The buzz: Both teams are through to the round of 16, so the only real thing up for grabs in this game is positioning in the second round. England will win the group with a victory or a draw; Japan needs a win to finish on top. That’s significant because the winner will face Norway in the second round while the runner-up will get either the Netherlands, the reigning European champion, or Canada, ranked fifth in the world. England is unbeaten here, with one-goal wins over Scotland and Argentina. Japan dropped two points in a scoreless draw with Argentina. England is on to the knockout stage for the fifth time. It has gone to at least the quarterfinals in every Women’s World Cup for which it has qualified. Japan made it to the final of the last two tournaments but is playing under a new coach, Asako Takakura, the first female to manage Japan’s national team.
SCOTLAND VS. ARGENTINA
Where: Parc des Princes, Paris
Time: noon PDT
TV: FS2, Universo
The buzz: Scotland has impressed in its Women’s World Cup debut, but it hasn’t won or even led a game here. Argentina, in its first World Cup after a 12-year absence, earned its first tournament point by drawing with Japan, leaving it with faint hope of reaching the second round if it wins this game. To do that it would need to score a goal, something it hasn’t done in 210 World Cup minutes. Eva Gonzalez was the last Argentine woman to score in the tournament, in a 6-1 loss to England in the group-play final in 2007.
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kevin.baxter@latimes.com | Twitter: @kbaxter11
