A day after the final match of the group stage against Ecuador at the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015, Nadeshiko Japan arrived in Vancouver on Wednesday 17 June for the Round of 16 match.

The squad, divided into two groups depending on the length of the playing time in the previous match, went through training at a swimming pool and jogging in Winnipeg in the morning before flying to Vancouver in the afternoon.

As the remaining four group stage matches took place on this day at other venues, all the teams heading to the knockout stage were determined. The top two teams in each group and the five best third-place finishers, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden and Colombia, advanced to the Round of 16. Japan's opponents were determined to be the Netherlands, who got through Group A in third place.

The Group stage matches were played on three days' rest, but Nadeshiko's contest against the Netherlands will be held on six days' rest on Tuesday 23rd. 

Japanese head coach Sasaki looks further into the knockout stage, saying "We will brace up and work together to prepare. Taking advantage of the six days' rest, we will sort out what we should sort out and improve quality of play by making our positions clear."

The women's squad will get a day off on 18th to refresh their mind and body and resume their training on 19th for the match against the Netherlands.

Head Coach Comment

SASAKI Norio, Head Coach (Nadeshiko Japan /Japan Women’s National Team)
The Netherlands have uniquely-skilled attackers up front and they seemingly play a modern style of football. They are high-quality, newly-emerging European team. We want to show our style of football and get boosted with our momentum to move on to the next step. Including the players who have done some rehab, the overall team condition has been getting better. We will play the knockout stage with everything we have as a united team and move on round by round.

FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015

Second Stage Round of 16
Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women’s National Team)    vs.  Netherlands Women’s National Team
Wed. 24 June - 11:00 (Japan time)

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