SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Japan coach Nils Nielsen insists hosts Australia will be “massive favorites” in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup final on Saturday, but his team’s near-flawless progress to the title match suggests otherwise.

The two-time champions have nailed 28 goals in their five games so far and conceded just one, against South Korea in their dominant 4-1 semi-final win in Sydney on Wednesday.

It set up a repeat of the 2014 and 2018 finals, where Japan triumphed 1-0 on both occasions.

This time Japan will have a partisan crowd at the 83,500-capacity Stadium Australia to deal with and Greenlander Nielsen put the pressure on the Sam Kerr-led Australia by calling them favorites.

“The Matildas really have an amazing team, they have adapted to whatever is coming their way,” he said after the South Korea victory.

“They have a great coach. He hasn’t been here long and he’s already made so many nice transforms.”

“When they play in front of a crowd like this, Australia are big favorites, massive favorites for the final.”

Australia, the 2010 champions, will need to produce something special to beat Japan, who dazzled against a South Korea team that finished as runners-up to China four years ago.

They seized control from the start and dominated possession with a high-tempo passing game, suffocating the Koreans, who managed just six shots all match and only one in the first half.

In contrast, Japan unleashed 21 shots and could have won by more, with three goals disallowed.

“It was a very solid performance,” said Nielsen, a former Denmark and Switzerland coach, who was recruited by Japan in late 2024.

“We tried to take a step up from the level we’ve shown so far in the tournament, and we succeeded. It’s not undeserved that we won; in fact, we could have won by a bigger margin.”

“That said, it’s not easy to score four, so you cannot be unhappy with that.”