The 26th All Japan Ladies Football Tournament began on Friday 20 March at Tokinosumika Sports Centre in Susono, Shizuoka. Total of 16 teams from each region around the nation played their first and second fixtures of the first round on 20th.

Group A has defending champions Azure Hyogo (Kansai 1/ Hyogo), who routed FC Benibana (Tohoku 1/ Yamagata) 5-0 in their opener as they scored three goals only in the first half. The Hyogo side clinched another victory against FC Mummys (Kanto 2/ Kanagawa) with a 3-1 mark in the second match to grab top spot in the group. Tonakai Ladies F.C. (Kyushu 1/ Fukuoka) also won two matches in a row. In their second match, despite taking a lead twice, the Fukuoka side had the score turn around in the 36th minute but equalised one minute later. And they notched a late winner from a corner kick to edge FC Benibana in a heated contest.

There are also two teams who earned six points in Group B. FC BB (Kanto 3/ Saitama) won two straight matches 2-0 and 4-0. Kochi ganador FC (Shikoku/ Kochi) also defeated Muroran Icebirds (Hokkaido) 1-0 in the second match despite some tough situations where they were forced to defend. The two teams, who kept clean sheets, square off in the final match of the group to advance to the next round atop.

With three goals scored in both matches, USED FC TDS (Kansai 3/ Osaka) lead Group C. Nagano Friends (Hokushinetsu/ Nagano) and FOOT CRUSADERS (Kanto 4/ Chiba) earned three points and trail the leaders from Osaka. While Nagano’s offence came into play with five goals in the two matches including Matsumoto Miho’s three goals, their defensive side conceded five goals as well. Even though Okinawa-ken Ladies (Kyushu 2/ Okinawa) now have no chance to pass through atop, they put up great battles in both matches. The outcome of the last matchday fixture between Okinawa-ken Ladies and USED FC may decide the fates of all sides in the group.

In Group D, despite the champions and runners-up of the 2012 tournament Tokyo Artemis SC (Kanto 1/ Tokyo) and Oideyasu Kyoto (Kansai 2/ Kyoto) playing in the league, Shimizu FC Ladies (Tokai/ Shizuoka) keep top spot after winning against both powerhouses. The Shizuoka team managed the matches well to dodge the dominating attacks of strong oppositions and kept two consecutive clean sheets.

On Saturday 21 March, the final fixtures of the group stage and the first round of each tournament by rankings are to be held. Keep an eye on the upcoming contests.

Players' Comments

SOMA Mai (BLAUE WALD/ Aomori)
I didn’t know what my first national tournament would be like, so I was tensed in the opening match. Some part worked well but as a whole my plays fell behind. Because Aomori has lots of snow, we play just futsal in a gym in this period. We weren’t able to use the width on an outdoor pitch where our team played after a long period. Even though it’s difficult to assemble all of the members, we practice three times a week. There is even a player who drives for two hours all the way to Aomori for practice. Another started playing football after she became 30 years old because her son started kicking the ball. It’s fun to play with various people.

NAKAMURA Yuko (Tonakai Ladies F.C. / Fukuoka)
It’s been four years since we last played this tournament. We haven’t been able to go up to top places, so we play this year’s tournament with the objective to gain single-digit ranking. We already got two wins and are getting close to the objective. The last group stage opponents Azure Hyogo are a great team, but our squad have been looking forward to seeing how high the level of the national tournament is. We all get excited for the next match. Our team have new faces and won the Kyushu region title for the first time in our history. Our motto is everyone in the team gets playing time in every match, and I believe our teamwork is exceptional.

KATAKURA Maki (FC Mummys/ Kanagawa)
(The second match opponents) Azure Hyogo weren’t a team we can win against, we thought. But of course it’s disappointing when we actually lost. When we scored a goal, I thought ‘We can make it,’ but their true ability was surely better than ours. This year, the team have the 30th anniversary of the foundation. The team have continued their activity since my mother’s generation and kept it for three generations until our children, who came here to support us today. We don’t have any player who has outstanding skills, but our teamwork is as good as any of the opponents. This is our first national tournament in six years, and we came here to advance to higher than the fourth-place tournament, where we played last time. We will first try to get a win.

IRIMAJIRI Mio (Kochi ganador FC/ Kochi)
The last two matches turned out to be tough, being forced to defend longer than we wanted. Last year, we weren’t able to move on to the tournament for top places, so we increased the amount of practice after the tournament. We have practiced on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and played training matches on Saturdays and Sundays. Our team have categories from junior high to adults, and all of them are eager to practice enthusiastically. It’s going to be a big confidence that our training paid off and we won today’s two matches. We will work hard tomorrow and after to go for the title.

JFA-TV

The 26th All Japan Ladies Football Tournament

Fri. 20 March 2015 - Sun .22 March 2015
Tokinosumika Sports Center Susono Ground/ Sizuoka Susono

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