Women's World Cup: England vs Japan

I thought being excited about England games was a thing of the past for me, with the dire performances of the men's team managing to disappoint fans in each and every major competition in recent memory. Little did I know I'd be planning to stay up to watch the England women take on last tournaments winners Japan in the semi final of the World Cup. Should they go on to win they'll take on the US, who have been more than formidable, not conceding a single goal in their previous 5 games. They'll be favourites in the final no matter who emerges victorious from this encounter.

It has to be said that the England team has already exceeded expectations, so it's no surprise they find themselves as the outsider in tonight's game. That said they've shown enough that we can't simply write them off, especially if they get off to a good start as they did against Canada in the quarter finals. With Japan at 6/5, England 29/10 and the draw 23/10 there's not an awful lot of meat in the bone. Many pundits anticipate a cagey, low scoring affair, but the tournament has had it's surprises so far and I'm more inclined to think and hope they'll be more action than anticipated.

This is the furthest our women have reached and I expect they will very much for viewing it as a final. The biggest concern for England is the technical prowess of the Japan team. Our women did beat Japan in the group stages last time around though, so this isn't beyond them.Everything taken into account though, Japan have shown more.

No bet for me at these odds, but my heart says England and my head says Japan.