WOLFSBURG GERMANY — Japan knocked two-time defending champion Germany out of the World Cup on Saturday, advancing to the semifinals with a 1-0 win when substitute Karina Maruyama outran the defense and scored on an angled shot in extra time.
Japan absorbed relentless pressure during the match, gaining its first World Cup semifinal and handing Germany its first loss in the tournament in a dozen years.
Standout midfielder Homare Sawa spotted Maruyama’s deep run in the 108th minute, served her perfectly and Maruyama slipped it past goalie Nadine Angerer to silence the sellout crowd of 26,067 and an expectant nation.
“I saw her running, I saw the gap in the defense and I gave the assist,” Sawa said.
The 32-year-old’s field vision and precision passing earned her player of the match award.
“I take my hat off to her,” said Germany coach Silvia Neid. “It is her fifth World Cup and she still plays so well.”
Germany threw everything forward in the final dozen minutes, but it didn’t matter. As throughout the tension-filled match, the bounces didn’t go the hosts’ way.
“I am so happy. We all fought together until the end,” Maruyama said. “It was not my success, but that of the whole team.”
Germany had not lost a World Cup game going back to a quarterfinal defeat to the United States in 1999.
France 4, England 3
LEVERKUSEN, Germany — France beat England on penalties when England captain Faye White missed the decisive kick.
White’s effort — after Eugenie Le Sommer tied the score for France — hit the crossbar.
The game ended 1-1 after normal time and extra time.
