Japan vs Australia: FIFA World Cup 2015 Preview, Live Stream & Where To Watch
Japan will continue their title defense when they take on Australia in the quarterfinals of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Canada.
Japan, who booked a spot in the semifinals of the tournament after scoring a 2-1 win against Netherlands in the Round-of-16 are favored to win on Saturday night, but Japanese defender Saki Kumagai said that there is no room for complacency in the knockout stage of the tournament.
Kumagai told reporters that they might look relaxed, but that does not mean they are taking their opponents likely. They know their championship experience could be factor, but they are very focused on the task at hand.
"It's not really that we are relaxed, but I'm sure our experiences help," Kumagai said via Edmonton Sun. "But at the same time it's not that we really feel that we are over-comfortable, we are trying to concentrate on every match trying to beat every team that we will be playing now in this knock-out stage."
While most analysts are not impressed with the performance of the defending champions in the tournament, Japan are the only unbeaten team in the 2015 FIFA World Cup. They also showed flashes of brilliance during their win against Netherlands, which could indicate they are peaking at the right time.
However, Australia head coach Alen Stajcic is not bothered at all. Stajcic said the defending champions have not faced an opponent like them in the World Cup this year because previous opponents of the Japanese side showed a lot of respect and looked intimidated.
"We played Japan twice last year and the games that we played against Japan didn't look like any of the games that they've played so far in this World Cup," Stajcic said. "They've played four opponents who dropped off and gave them a lot of respect, as they deserve. But that's not the kind of game they're going to see against us."
Stajcic said that they will force Japan to play out of their rhythm, which was their main game plan when they pulled off a 1-0 victory against Brazil in the Round-of-16 on Sunday in Moncton.
The winner of the quarterfinals match between Japan and Australia will face either England or Canada in the semifinals on Wednesday at the Commonwealth Stadium.
Where To Watch & Live Stream
The Japan-Australian quarterfinal match will kick off at 4 p.m. ET and will be shown live on Fox Sports 1 and through online live streaming via Fox Soccer 2GO.
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