Pick-up Match 1

MYNAVI VEGALTA SENDAI LADIES (Nadeshiko Division1/Miyagi）2-0（0-0, 2-0）KONOMIYA SPERANZA OSAKA TAKATSUKI (Nadeshiko Division2/Osaka)

The first match at Sport Ueno-Park Stadium in Mie Prefecture saw the meeting between MYNAVI VEGALTA SENDAI LADIES (Nadeshiko Division1/Miyagi) and KONOMIYA SPERANZA OSAKA TAKATSUKI (Nadeshiko Division2/Osaka).

From the beginning of the match, Vegalta Sendai created several promising chances by attacking from both flanks with good ball movements. On the other hand, Osaka Takatsuki were forced to defend mostly on their side of the pitch, but still managed to keep the Sendai club from scoring with excellent defensive coordination whereby the second and third defenders covered the first defender who went to challenge the ball. Such a group effort led to reclaiming possession and created few counter-attacking chances for the Rookie of the Year recipient of the Nadeshiko League Division2, TANIGUCHI Konomi, but was not enough to carve open the top-flight defence. Vegalta continued to dominate the first half by keeping high possession, but were also unable to find the net and both sides ended scoreless at halftime.

The game stayed in the balance until the 77th minute, but it was Sendai who broke the deadlock and scored an opening goal. MANYA Miho broke through the tenacious Osaka defence with a neat give-and-go with Caitlin FOORD and calmly directed her shot past the opposing goalkeeper and into the far side of the net. Gaining momentum after the goal, Sendai doubled the lead with a stunning header from Foord.

Osaka Takatsuki, on the other hand, brought on some attacking players including KAMIYA Narumi with excellent speed to score, but Sendai’s solid defence led by KITAHARA Kana didn’t allow them to find the back of the net. Looking at the game statistics, Vegalta Sendai overwhelmed the opponents with 17 shots, while the Osaka side were kept to three attempts. The Sendai club reached the third round of competition with a final score of 2-0.

Match Report (Japanese version only)

Pick-up Match 2

IGA FOOTBALL CLUB KUNOICHI (Nadeshiko Division1/Mie) 3-0（1-0, 2-0） FUKUOKA J ANCLAS (Kyushu/Fukuoka)

The second match started with strong wind where the flags were flapping in the breeze. The venue, Sport Ueno-Park Stadium, was also a home stadium for IGA FOOTBALL CLUB KUNOICHI (Nadeshiko Division1/Mie) who took on the challenge from FUKUOKA J ANCLAS (Kyushu/Fukuoka), the team that advanced to this round of competition by equalising with a dramatic last-minute goal and winning the match on penalties.

In the first half, Iga Kunoichi had the advantage of playing with the tailwind, and HAJI Madoka and SUGITA Ami fashioned several chances by moving the ball swiftly with one-touch passes, but the game remained levelled as Fukuoka Anclas denied them from scoring with a low block.

While both sides struggled to initiate any effective attacks due to the strong wind in over a half hour of of play, Iga exploited a momentary gap in Fukuoka’s defence to open the scoring in the 34th minute. YAMAZAKI Nao dashed up inside the box and fired in a left cross from TAKESHIMA Kanako as she later commented, ‘(Takeshima) Kanako has delivered a number of good crosses in the game, but the timing was slightly off. I decided to make an effort to respond to it a little quicker this time.’ The goal was  also the first official goal for Yamazaki, who has given an important opener to her team.

After the goal, Iga got settled into the game and capitalised on the individual players’ strength to spend more time attacking in the opposing end. As a result, they tacked on few more goals before the match ended. Despite being denied a penalty chance in the 68th minute, TAKAHASHI Haruka doubled the lead after 73 minutes and Sugita took the game beyond the reach for the Fukuoka club with a third after receiving a neat assist from Haji on 80 minutes. It wasn’t only the Iga’s offence that excelled in the game, but also their defence which kept the opponents to a mere single attempt in the game. Controlling the match from the beginning to the end, Iga advanced to the third round with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Fukuoka Anclas

Match Report (Japanese version only)

Coaches and Players' Comments

MANYA Miho (MYNAVI VEGALTA SENDAI LADIES)
Since we had been told by our Coach that we should not panic because it would be a difficult match until we score the first goal, I thought that the players especially in the backline had to stay composed. Osaka Takatsuki have excellent forward players and we expected them to hit us on the quick counter. Even keeping that scenario in mind, we allowed them to create several scoring chances, and this is one of the areas that I believe we need to work on. We had a tentative first half, but as we started to attack more strongly in the second, we scored a couple of goals. In regards to the goal that I scored, I was played through nicely with a neat one-two pass by Foord and all I did was to direct the ball past the opposing goalkeeper.

MURAKAMI Shinjiro, Interim Coach (KONOMIYA SPERANZA OSAKA TAKATSUKI)
We came in with a game plan to defend solidly and take advantage of the few chances we might have in the game. For the past week, we increased the number of defenders in training to prepare for the match. We stayed focused and did well up until the 30th minute of the second half, but could not keep up the opponents for the remainder of the match. I must admit that this is the current strength of our team. I believe that if we could have converted the excellent chance we had in the second half, the result might have been different. It will be a difficult task to keep winning games in the Nadeshiko Challenge League next season. We will try our best to improve the level of play of individual players as well as the entire team by capitalising on the experience of competing in the Empress’s Cup.

SUGITA Ami（IGA FOOTBALL CLUB KUNOICHI）
In the first half, we tried to make good use of the tailwind, but lacked the ideas to break through the opposing defence where the backline stayed deep in their own end. We came close, but our timing was slightly off and struggled to score as well. It was a crucial moment in the game that we scored a goal during such a difficult stretch in the first half. After the break, we saw the opponents take more attacking positions and, as a result, there was more open space in their defence as well. This allowed us to tack on few more goals before the game ended. It will be ideal if we can continue to perform as we did in the second half in the coming match as well. We will face ALBIREX next, and they are the side that we lost in the final league game this season. We are still disappointed with the defeat, and are looking to avenge that loss in the upcoming match as well.

KAWASHIMA Mie, Coach (FUKUOKA J ANCLAS)
Facing a strong wind coming towards us in the first half, I thought that we might have a chance to win if we kept a clean sheet in the first half and score once we had the tailwind in the second. We spent plenty of time in practising set pieces, and I wished we had more chances to take corner kicks. In the second half, we increased the number of players in attacks, but it was the quality of plays after getting to loose balls that we were lacking. We had withdrawn from the Nadeshiko Challenge League, but our players had expressed their strong determination towards the Empress’s Cup, ‘We will do our best in the cup competition as the top team representing Kyushu region and show how well we can compete in the nationwide tournament.’ I must praise them for becoming tough players.

JFA-TV [Full Match]

Second Round Sat. 4 November / Kick-off time 11:00
CHIFURE AS ELFEN SAITAMA (Nadeshiko Division1/Saitama) vs AICHI TOHO UNIVERSITY (Tokai/Aichi)

Second Round Sat. 4 November / Kick-off time 14:00
AC NAGANO PARCEIRO LADIES (Nadeshiko Division1/Nagano) vs BUNNYS KYOTO SC (Kansai/Kyoto) 

For more matches and highlights from JFA-TV

Tournament Period：28 October 2017(Sat.)～24 December 2017(Sun.)
First Round　Sat. 28 and Sun 29. October
Second Round　Fri.3, Sat. 4 and Sun. 5 November
Third Round　Sat. 11 and Sun. 12 November
Quarter-finals　Sat. 18 and Sun. 19 November
Semi-finals　Thu. 21 December
Final　Sun. 24 December

Tournament Information