Brazil overwhelmed Japan to set up a spellbinding semi-final against Spain, while Portugal downed Italy to book a date with Argentina at the FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup in Manila.
Japan found Brazil too hot to handle as they fell to a 6-1 defeat as they exited the inaugural tournament at the quarter-final stage.
Can anyone stop the reigning Best Women’s Player? Can anyone stop the number-one-ranked team? The answer for now seems to a big “NO”.
Emilly registered two rockets and a delicate late dink to assume pole position in the adidas Golden Boot race. Brazil decrypted their opponents at will and won by five.
After a blistering start to the game, Brazil opened their account through Emilly’s fourth minute strike after playing a one-two with Ana Luiza, firing a low strike past Nene Inoue.
Put under incessant pressure by the Brazilians, Japan found it difficult to get their usual passing game going as they were made to be on a defensive mode while trying to regroup.
Japan conceded again in the ninth minute when Amandinha surged down the left and her cutback was swept home by Ana Luiza.
A confident Brazil extended their lead two minutes later when Amandinha found Emilly in acres of space to rifle the ball into the top corner.
The space on the right of Japan’s defence was again exploited by Brazil with Debora Vanin running through unchecked in the 13th minute with her shot from an acute angle ricocheting off Inoue to land in the net.
Luana Rodrigues made it 5-0 for Brazil in the following minute to give Japan a mountain to climb in the second half.
Japan improved after the interval but could only force an own goal from Brazil custodian Julia in the 36th minute only to concede again three minutes later to Emilly as their challenge came to an end.
“We came here to win. We wanted to beat Brazil, but they showed their strength from the very beginning. We understand why they’re the number-one team,” said Japanese goalkeeper Yuria Suto.
Brazil will now enter their biggest test yet, against number-two-ranked nation Spain, brimming with belief.
Portugal’s A-listers twinkled once again. Ana Azevedo craftily assisted the first two goals, Janice Silva decorated a double with a heavenly dink, Fifo delivered another masterful display and Ana Catarina Pereira came up with two herculean saves. The star of stars in Luis Conceicao’s cast was nevertheless Lidia Moreira. Her flair frightens adversaries. Her end product killed Italy.
Francesca Salvatore’s side nevertheless go home having made memories. The best ones include a tournament-record 17-0 win over Panama, a thrilling fightback defeat of Iran, and the exceptional performances of Renata Adamatti.
The 32-year-old Adamatti exits Philippines 2025 with nine goal involvements – more than any other player.
“I’m immensely grateful to be here and to be able to represent my country. My goals were three important ones. They were down to the collective work of the team. It’s feels really good to be among the best four teams in the world,” said Portuguese pivot Lidia Moreira.
Portugal will take on Argentina in the semi-finals on Friday.
