Japan face stiff England test on the road to World Cup defence
Unbeaten champions must tame bold Lionesses riding wave of success to advance
Japan's "Nadeshiko" are the only unbeaten team left after opening their campaign with a 1-0 win over Switzerland three weeks ago in the sunshine of Vancouver's west coast.
I'm not sure there are underdogs any more
England started their quest for a maiden title with a 1-0 loss to France in windy and wet conditions in the east in Moncton.
But England's "Lionesses" have been gaining momentum, beating Mexico, Colombia, 1995 champions Norway and hosts Canada all by 2-1 scorelines, to reach their first semi-finals.
Japan beat Australia 1-0 in the quarter-finals and have won all their games by a one-goal margin with the impressive depth of their team demonstrated by their seven goals having come from different players.
England coach Mark Sampson believes his sixth-ranked side can take heart from being unbeaten against the Japanese, ranked fourth, in their three previous matches.
England were the only team to beat Japan at the 2011 World Cup, winning 2-0 before the Asian side went on to claim the title. They also played out a 2-2 draw in 2007 tournament.
"We're playing the current world champions and it's going to be a huge challenge."
We're playing the current world champions and it's going to be a huge challenge
Japan coach Norio Sasaki brushed aside talk of past results.
"We will not think of negative past results just focus on those in front of us," he said.
But Bronze warned: "Japan are the favourites, we know that, but we're confident. We know how we can beat them. England are going all the way!" The winners will play either Germany or the United States in the final.
