FIFA Women’s World Cup: Japan beat England to reach final

Japanese football fans screamed with joy, Thursday, after what they described as “divine winds” blew their women’s national team into the World Cup final following a heart-stopping 2-1 win over England.

The team will play the United States for the title in Vancouver on Sunday, a rematch of the 2011 final in Frankfurt where the Japanese won on penalties to become the first Asian World Cup champions.

That victory brought much-needed happiness to a nation reeling from a March earthquake and tsunami less than four months before.

On Thursday, crowds throughout Tokyo shouted in triumph as an injury-time own goal from the defender Laura Bassett gave Japan the win over England.

The Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga also hailed the victory, telling his usual morning news conference that he would be cheering the team on when they faced the Americans on 5 July, though it will be early Monday morning in Japan.

“It’s really splendid, the result of all the hard efforts by coach [Norio] Suzuki and everyone on the team,” the usually staid Suga said.

“We will definitely beat the United States again for the second straight World Cup title,” Kennosuke Tominaga, a 55-year-old supporter, said.