4 matches of the 3rd Round of the the 37th Empress's Cup were held on 21 November. 

Pick-up Match 1

Speranza FC Osaka Takatsuki (Nadeshiko League First Division/Osaka) 1-2 (0-0, 1-1, extra 1st 0-0, extra 2nd 0-1)  Iga Football Club Kunoichi (Nadeshiko League First Division/Mie)

2 top teams of the national league played against each other; the one between Speranza FC Osaka Takatsuki (Nadeshiko League First Division/Osaka) and Iga Football Club Kunoichi (Nadeshiko League First Division/Mie) was very intensive. While both teams tried to find chances by making long passes, Takatsuki made players to go from the wings and SATO Kaede made a shot which went slightly outside of the goal post in the 13th minute.

On the other hand, Iga who tried to catch up with them with fitness had a chance to strike a shot; in the 43rd minute, the team stole the ball at a higher spot and MATSUNAGA Yoshie made a shot, but it was saved by the opponent’s goalkeeper.

The match moved in the 2nd half. In the 54th minute, IGA moved the ball around on the right wing and raised a cross and the ball was knocked back to SUGITA Ami who stroke a powerful shot which finally found the net. 

Takatsuki substituted a player and tried to pass the ball mainly to Sato who moved from the last line to front. In the 79th minute, Sato broke through the IGA’s strong goalkeeper KUNO Fubuki and made the score 1-1. 

While both goalkeepers saving their goal very well, the next goal was in the 103rd minute of the extended time. Iga’s midfielder NOICHI Aya could catch the long pass just in front of the goal line and made a cross, then forward Gloria Edna DOUGLAS, who was a substitute and played a key role making most of her height, made a finishing touch with a header. This decided the match and Iga could get the victory after a difficult game. 

Match details (Japanese version only)

Pick-up Match 2

Nippon TV Beleza (Nadeshiko League First Division/Tokyo)   5-0 (3-0, 2-0)   Waseda University (Kanto/Tokyo)

Waseda University (Kanto/Tokyo) who has broken through the Nadeshiko League Second Division teams in the 2 previous matches kept working hard in the 3rd match; they tried to attack Nippon TV Beleza (Nadeshiko League First Division/Tokyo) who is the former champion of this competition and also the top team of this season’s Nadeshiko League First Division, from the beginning of this match. However, Beleza responded to this attack as the champion. 

After accepting Waseda’s momentum, they moved both the ball and players so freely and in the 8th minute, TANAKA Mina caught the vertical pass and made a calm shot that was the opening goal of the match. 5 minutes later, Beleza’s UETSUJI Yumi made an additional goal and in the 36th minute, Uetsuji knocked the ball back in front of the opponent’s goal then Tanaka screwed it into the goal. The 1st half ended 3-0.

In the 2nd half, Beleza kept its momentum. They didn’t allow Waseda to play in Beleza’s area in most of the time and in the 66th minute Tanaka responded to a cross from left wing, jumping closer to the goal and turned the hat trick. Tanaka made another goal in the 86th minute and Beleza utterly beat Waseda and moved on to the next round.

Match details (Japanese version only)

On 22 November, another 4 of 3rd round matches will be held and top 8 teams will be decided. 

Other Matches

Okayama Yunogo Belle (Nadeshiko League First Division/Okayama)   2-6 (1-1, 1-5)   AS Elfen Saitama (Nadeshiko League First Division/Saitama)
Angeviolet Hiroshima (Nadeshiko League Second Division/Hiroshima)   0-5 (0-3, 0-2)   INAC Kobe (Nadeshiko League First Division/Hyogo)

Coach and Players' Comments

NASU Maiko (Iga Football Club Kunoichi)
It was our 5th match against Takatsuki and we knew that it would be a difficult one. Before the match we encouraged ourselves telling ourselves that we will keep strong mentality and we tried to show off that we are stronger than them. Since a part of the reason we conceded a goal was my mistake, I really wanted front line players to score.

In the extended time, we could make a rhythm of our play and pushed them. I think it was the match which we ran most and it was very good that we could defend our goal which allowed us to win. Our next opponent Beleza; we have been beaten utterly in the latter part of the league, so we will keep our consistency in tactics to play against them with positive attitude. 

HONNAMI Kenji, Coach (Speranza FC Osaka Takatsuki)
We could have made the result within 90 minutes. As a result that we could not score, we allowed the opponent to get active again. It was the problem for us that we didn’t have a striker. Since we couldn’t keep the ball in the front line well today, I had asked them to get active to move to spaces, and I appreciate them for doing that well. 

However, the finishing was the only thing they could not do as we planned. Unfortunately, this has been the end of this competition for us but we still have matches of the league so now we are shifting our focus to the league competition. 

MATSUKAWA Tomo (Waseda University)
It was the good opportunity for us to play against Japan’s top players, and what I am feeling honestly now is that we could not do anything at all. They were really high-level players in making a step, and where to put and carry the ball. I even felt that they had one more additional player on the pitch. We did have some chances in the beginning but they gradually started to respond to us with various movements. On the other hand, we could not do anything at all.

We have lost the match against Beleza at this pitch 2 years ago. I kept hoping to minimise the gap between them but their level was much higher. How we can make most of this experience is dependent upon ourselves. As a student football club, we want to be a champion of the All Japan University Women’s Football Tournament. This is our final goal.

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

The 37th Empress's Cup

Sat.7 November 2015 - Sun. 27 December 2015
More information