Japan, the reigning World Cup champ, secures quarterfinals spot

The quarterfinals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup are officially set.

Japan, the reigning world champion, secured the final spot Tuesday with a dramatic 2-1 win against Netherlands.

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The game was one of the more exciting of the Round of 16 simply because the two teams were evenly matched and both created a lot of scoring chances.

Japan struck early with a goal in the 10th minute and controlled the game through much of the first half. But in the second half, Netherlands seemed to settle. It mounted its best scoring chance in the 76th minute, which warranted a huge reactionary save by Japan goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori.

But, of course, less than two minutes later, Japan executed one of the most beautiful goals of the tournament. And it ended up being the game winner.

Netherlands did get a goal back in extra time after Kirsten van de Ven’s shot seemed to catch Kaihori napping, but it was too little, too late.

Things won’t get much easier for the defending champs, who will face a well-rested and inspired Australian team on Saturday. Australia owns one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far with its Round of 16 triumph against Brazil.

While the Dutch have been ousted from the World Cup, its Olympic dreams are still alive. World Cup performance determines UEFA’s three Olympic women’s soccer spots. France and Germany have claimed two of the spots courtesy of their quarterfinal berths. However, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway and Netherlands all were ousted in the Round of 16 and all will play a playoff in February or March to determine the final Olympic spot.

Japan battled some criticism for its easy path to the Round of 16 — it did not face a team with previous World Cup experience during the group stage — but more than proved it was ready to defend its title.

While Australia will be a tough quarterfinal opponent, especially on just three days rest, the Japanese do have a much easier route to the World Cup final than the United States, Germany or France, who all have to go through each other if they want to hoist the cup.

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