After shattering the dream of Queens of the North (host Canada) in the quarterfinal, the ladies from Queen Elizabeth’s country (England) will face the biggest challenge in their football career today.

A semifinal cracker against the defending champions, Japan, appears a huge task. The Japanese, 2011 champions, no doubt, is the clear favourites in today’s encounter, and England coach, Mark Sampson, and his lasses know that.

The Japanese have vowed that they would crunch everyone standing in their way of a successful defence of the title they won at the expense of USA four years ago in Germany.

Today is Canada’s Independence Day, and the fans are looking forward to seeing a good match between the two countries. A majority of them are rooting for Japan to beat England, who played the role of spoilers against the Queens of the North in the quarter-final.   Both teams will have to do with a depleted team, having been hit either by suspension or injuries. The Japanese lost key forward Kozue Ando to injury early in the tournament.

England overcame a slow start to the tournament with in a low-key 1-0 loss to France, and have since recorded four successive 2-1 wins. Included in the run were a comeback victory over Norway, and that win against the hosts in front of a vociferous Vancouver crowd last week.

Japan coach, Norio Sasaki, became the most sought-after tactician in the world after leading the girls to win the title in Germany four years ago, a victory that earned him the Women’s Football Coach of the Year Award. The Japanese have claimed five successive one-goal victories in this tournament, including their 1-0 win over Australia in the quarterfinal.

A win for Japan in today’s game here in Edmonton will mean they have reached three successive global finals, including the 2012 London Olympics.

The Three Lionesses (England) are unbeaten in their three previous matches against Japan, with one victory and two draws. England were the only team to defeat Japan at the last FIFA Women’s World Cup, Germany 2011, winning 2-0 in the group stage. This is the third time ever for an England team to get to a semifinal.