Japan secured the final spot in this fall's Women's World Cup soccer finals in the United States after defeating Mexico 2-0 in the second leg of their qualification playoff in Tokyo on Saturday.
U.S.-based midfielder Homare Sawa headed home in the 56th minute on a humid afternoon at Tokyo's National Stadium and substitute Karina Maruyama added a late second to give Eiji Ueda's side a 4-2 aggregate win following last week's 2-2 draw in Mexico City.
"I'm ecstatic," said Ueda. "Today's match was always going to be tough but we have produced a great result and the attitude of the players was absolutely first class."