Although Homare Sawa arrived at the Olympics with a big reputation, her midfield partner Aya Miyama is quickly making a big name for herself. The Japan No8 has been wowing the crowds with her free-kick taking ability as well as her vision, pace and hard work.

It was largely due to her influence that Japan recovered a two-goal deficit to draw with New Zealand, and she was unlucky not to score in the 1-0 defeat by USA. Thereafter, former FIFA Women's World Cup-winning coach, Tina Theune-Meyer, rated her performance as 'outstanding' in the 5-1 win over Norway.

The 23-year-old, who plays her club football for Okayama Yunogo Belle was included in the L.League's best 11 in 2007. A veteran of two FIFA Women's World Cups, in 2003 and 2007, she has returned to China PR for this year's event and feels that there is something very different about playing in the Olympics to other events.

"Normally when we play in China, in other tournaments, we are always the away team," she told FIFA.com. "But in this tournament, especially against Norway, there were so many Japanese fans so we could feel big support. I really appreciated it.

"We came up against teams who are physically stronger than ourselves, but we managed to achieve outgoal of progressing beyond the group stage. I'm really happy.

"Of course, Norway had already qualified before the final group match. Against China we'll be in a totally different situation - it's a knockout tie."

The away team
Miyama, who rates her physical condition as 'excellent', is looking forward to the match against the hosts in Qinhuangdao, the scene of their games against the Football Ferns and the US, but knows that the friendly atmosphere they have received at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium is unlikely to be repeated when the two teams meet again on Friday.

"The Japanese and Chinese teams know each other very well," she continued. "The deciding factor will be which team takes advantage of their opportunities. Playing against the hosts is always really difficult, but we have our sights set on a medal.

"To be honest, we do not know what the expectations are back home. But we are trying our best to do better than we did at the last Olympic tournament in Athens. We were quarter-finalists then.

"We'll be doing our best. We pass and work well together as a unit, move freely, but maintain a sense of discipline - and those factors will be crucial if we're going to progress to the semi-finals." 

Cheering for the country
Norio Sakasi's side have been keeping close together around the hotels in Qinhuangdao and Shanghai and enjoying the Olympic experience, but not just for the football. There is always the sound of excitable clapping from the team's relaxation areas whenever their countryfolk are doing well at other sports.

"One of the most impressive one was in the women's badminton," she concluded. "The duo of Satoko Suetsuna and Miyuki Maeda won against the current world champions China in quarter-final. I've taken a lot of inspiration from them."