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Steph Houghton says England should not fear Japan

England captain Steph Houghton
Image: England captain Steph Houghton

Steph Houghton says England should not fear holders Japan as they prepare to play them for a place in the final of the Women’s World Cup.

The Manchester City player and national captain is in optimistic mood ahead of their last-four meeting at midnight in Edmonton on Wednesday.

Houghton, 27, has played every minute of England’s five games so far and scored their first goal in the 2-1 win over Norway in the round of 16.

With four victories in that sequence – all of them 2-1 scorelines – there has been a solid if unspectacular look about the way Mark Sampson’s team has conducted its business.

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They have now gone further than any other English side in the event previously and are the first team from the country to reach a World Cup semi-final at any level for 25 years.

Houghton is happy with the way England have been playing and believes they can strike the right chord against the team which beat the USA to win the 2011 final and take the trophy for the first time.

She said: “I think we’ve got to respect them. I don’t think we fear them. We’ve got to look at the strengths we’ve got in our squad and we’ve got a lot of winners in there.

“This match is going to be the biggest match of our careers and we know what an opportunity we’ve got as an England side to be able to get into a World Cup final.

“We’ve got to have that right balance of being able to respect how Japan play and the quality they have and make sure our tactics allow us to stifle them and not give them too many opportunities.

“For us, it’s all about trying to get that win and trying to keep continuing to gain momentum throughout the course of the tournament.”

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