I think Japan's performance in the first round of the group stage was the best among the 32 teams and they will hope to give another brilliant performance against Costa Rica in the second round of the group stage.
Nadeshiko Yamato have a number of good players in their squad and showed good teamwork in their 5-0 win over Zambia, but I think I was most impressed by Hinata Miyazawa, who scored twice in her first group stage match to help her team to a big win.
In addition, the backline defense led by Saki Kumagai, a member of the 2011 Women's World Cup winning team, was solid and managed to record a shutout, but I think the midfield is the strongest part of Japan's team.
Man City's Yui Hasegawa is Japan's central midfielder and provides excellent support to Kazuhana Nagano and Aoba Fujino up front, but the latter was unlucky not to score in the last match.
On the other hand, Costa Rica is playing three shifts and lost 0-3 to Spain in their first match, but I think they played pretty well defensively against one of the favorites to win this year's tournament, and were able to keep the game scoreless in the first hour of the match.
Goalkeeper Daniela Sauniera got a pretty interesting birthday present in that she not only saved her team from a tough loss to Spain, but she also made a 12-yard save on Jennifer Boots Mosel.
