West Ham’s Risa Shimizu played a huge part in helping Japan secure their place in the quarter finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Risa Shimizu found the back of the net, as she seized the ball from a deflection in the 50’ minute of Japan’s 3-1 win against Norway yesterday. The player also became West Ham’s first ever to score at the Women’s World Cup.

Shimizu and her team managed to achieve a 100% win rate in the recent group stages, meaning they qualified for the round of 16 and were up against Norway. The 2011 winners put up a great display, firing 3 past Norwegian goal keeper Mikalsen and securing their place in the last eight.

Futoshi Ikeda, Japan’s head coach, made three changes to the side that won 4-0 against Spain last time out. This meant that West Ham’s Honoka Hayashi was benched for Saturday’s fixture.

It only took Japan 15 minutes to open the scoring as Hinata Miyazawa’s chip caused Norway’s midfielder Ingrid Engen to score in her own net. But it didn’t take Norway long to respond as Chelsea’s Guro Reiten levelled out the score just five minutes after.

West Ham’s Shimizu was in the right place to score Japan’s second, whilst Hinata Miyazawa wrapped up the win in the 81’ minute.

A shock win for Sweden today, means that back to back champions USA are knocked out, revealing that Japan will go up against Sweden in the quarter finals on Friday 11th August.

Written by Katie Vine