The Japan vs. England women's World Cup match Wednesday ended in an unexpected, heartbreaking way when Britain's Laura Bassett attempted to clear a pass to her goalie Karen Bardsley, but instead sent the ball into England's own goal, sealing a 2-1 victory for Japan.
In what is called an "own goal" in soccer, Japan was pressuring England's defense with two players near the ball. Bassett tried clearing a pass back to Bardsley to prevent the Japanese players from getting the
ball near England's goal, according to BleacherReport.
Bassett's erratic pass, though, flew over Bardsley head, hit the goal's top crossbar and crossed the goal line, giving Japan the lead and delivering England a crushing defeat.
"Bassett was in tears after slicing an intended clearance into her own net at the end of an evening on which England had held their own against a slick passing, technically accomplished, but largely
non-penetrative, Japan side," The Guardian reported.
"As tears began rolling down Bassett's face, the final whistle blew. Instantly the center half was engulfed by teammates desperate to offer her a consolatory hug," the U.K. newspaper noted.
The contest sets up a rematch of the 2011 World Cup title game between Japan and the United States, which the Japanese
won on penalty kicks, according to CNN. England will play Germany in the third-place game.
"Our goal was to go to the final and in that sense the players did what they had to do," Japan coach Norio Sasaki said through a FIFA translator, according to CNN.
Bassett, though, found a lot of support on social media after her error.
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