The final day of the 27th All Japan Ladies Football Tournament was held on 21 March. The Final and the third place matches of the tournament as determined by group stage ranking got underway, and UILANI FC (Kanto 1/Saitama) got the title for the first time.

In the 4th place tournament, Muroran Icebirds (Hokkaido) faced Shimizu FC Ladies (Tokai/Shizuoka) for the final. In the 38th minute, Muroran made a second goal and they got the victory 2-0. In the 3rd place match, Mizusawa United FC (Tohoku 1/Iwate) beat Angora (Chugoku 1/Okayama) and they finally scored goals and the victory.

The final of the 3rd place tournament was between FC Benibana (Tohoku 2/Yamagata) and Nagano Friends (Kitashinetsu/Nagano). Benibana scored the opener in the 1st half and added their second goal in the 48th minute by ASHINO Yuka. The match ended 2-0. Benibana made a better result compared to that of last year which was 10th place.

The final of the 2nd place tournament between Oideyasu Kyoto (Kansai/Kyoto) and Mozela Kagoshima (Kyushu 2/Kagoshima) ended dramatically. The 1st half ended 1-1, then in the 47th minute of the 2nd half, Mozela’s substitute player TAHARA Miki joined the pitch for the first time. In the additional time, Tahara made a successful assisting pass from the right wing to INATOMI Natsuki and right at the same time as the final whistle was blown, she fired a sharp shot in to the net.

In the final match of the 1st place tournament, UILANI FC kept attacking Tokyo Artemis SC (Kanto 2/Tokyo). In the 5th and 13th minutes, UILANI FC’s ISHIDA Mihoko had very good chances, receiving passes from left wing, but both attacks were blocked by the opponent’s goalkeeper. In the 16th minute, MORITA Makiko made a shot with her left foot, but it only went over the cross bar. UILANI FC took complete control of the match by not giving Tokyo Artemis SC any chance to attack, but the 1st half ended in a draw.

In the 2nd half, Tokyo Artemis SC managed to make some chance but they could never find the net in front of the UILANI FC’s fine defence. The time was up while both teams couldn’t score and the match went to a penalty-shoot out. It was their second penalty-shoot out after the previous match for UILANI FC, and the team’s goalkeeper SAITA Yuki saved the goal more than once. She blocked 2 of 3 shots by reading the ball direction perfectly, and the team got the victory 3-0.

'This is the only chance that we could get “the first of first” victory; we came to this competition for the first time and we got the title. This is very special to us.' The team’s Coach and Player Morita Makiko of UILANI FC said after the match. She also expressed her high motivation for next year: “we still wanted to score before the penalty-shoot out, so we’ll have more training to get another title next year.”

The third place match became very intense and it continued to extended time. Tonakai Ladies F.C. (Kyushu 1/Fukuoka) scored in the 1st half of the extended time and beat FC BB (Kanto 4/Saitama) 2-1. Afterwards, Tokyo Artemis SC got the Fair Play Award, and MVP was given to Ishida of UILANI FC.

Players' Comments

SASAKI Erika (Mizusawa United FC)
Since we hadn’t won at all, we wanted to get one goal. In the end we could score 2 goals and that makes us very happy and we even feel like we got the title. Even though we couldn’t win the matches, what we tried to do was enjoying these 3 days. I am happy to play football with my teammates even at my age and winning the game made me even happier. We are already talking about coming back next year to get better results. 

SHIRAISHI Sachiko (FC Benibana)
It was my pleasure to play with my teammates throughout these 3 days. I enjoyed it. This team is consists of players from Benibana in Yamagata, but there are some players who are originally from Yamagata but currently live in Tokyo and Fukushima. Last year we lost the final match of the 3rd place tournament, so it is good that we could go beyond that result this time. I am a junior high school teacher and coach the school’s men’s football club in Tsuruoka. I made a promise with my students that I would score in this competition; it was good that I could keep the promise. I will tell them “I did my best, so you all do your best, too.”

MINE Sayaka (Mozela Kagoshima)
There is a team of ladies age around 60 whose name is “Ogojo”, and last year we made up a younger team. “Ogojo” is a local word in Kagoshima and it means “women”. “Mozeka” means “cute”. Half of our players have kids and they had to leave them at home. We were missing our kids but we could do our best feeling a lot of support from our senior women’s players and our families. In the end all of us stood on the pitch and grabbed the victory, and that made me very happy.  

MORITA Makiko, Coach and Player (UILANI FC)
Our physical condition wasn’t good at all after the series of matches, but with our advantages which are encouraging each other well and positive playing style, we could carry on playing against Tokyo Artemis SC, keeping our strong mentality. I was very happy at the moment that we could beat them. However, as a player I should have scored more due to the good chances that I had and I regret not having finished the match before the penalty-shoot out. I will have more training to improve my goal accuracy to get the consecutive victory next year.

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

Fainal Full Match Tokyo Artemis SC vs UILANI FC

Play off Tournament Each Final

The 27th All Japan Ladies Football Tournament

19 March 2016 - 21 March 2016
Susono Ground of Tokinosumika Sports Centre (Susono, Shizuoka)
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