A day after the heart-breaking loss to China at the third match of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics Asian Qualifiers Final Round, Nadeshiko Japan took another practice session in Osaka on Saturday 5 March.

With three matches already in the record book, they still remain in fifth place with just one point. However, they still maintain a slight possibility of tying at good enough points to win the spots in the Olympics depending on the outcome of their rivals at the remaining two matchdays. For the contests against Vietnam on 7 and against DPR Korea on 9, with two days in between, the squad worked out in two groups for about an hour to keep their conditioning ready.

“We haven’t given up just yet,” said defender SAMESHIMA Aya. The players responded to reporters with firmly determined look apparently showing that they well understand where they stand in the harsh reality. Midfielder MIYAMA Aya said “the entire team including coaches and players come together as one and keep playing with belief in ourselves.” She kept talking to players to “let everyone focus on playing” and get the spirt among the team up.

Monday 7 March will see the match between China and Korea Republic kick off at 16:35 at Yanmar Stadium Nagai. Later on at 19:35 at the same venue, DPR Korea and Australia face against each other while Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women’s National team) take on Vietnam at Kincho Stadium.

Players' Comments

FW #10  OGIMI Yuki (1. FFC Frankfurt/Germany)
If we can take this difficult situation as our chance to regroup ourselves, I think we can still move forward. As long as there are still matches to play, it’s our job to stay thankful for our playing opportunities and do our very best. 

DF #3  IWASHIMIZU Azusa (NIPPON TV BELEZA)
In today’s workout, I wanted to see players like me, OHNO and ARIYOSHI who didn’t play in the past match keep cheering up and encouraging our teammates. I felt the same thing at the sideline of the China match, but there are no players who aren’t focused. We got strong will to keep playing and not to give up our chance to play in the Olympics yet. Once we start looking down, it’s over. We have to repay the favour to the people who have supported us so far, and also there are younger players watching how we play. So we want to play well enough to be good role models. 

Nadeshiko Channel (Japanese version only)

Schedule

*The schedule and venues are subject to change.

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