After finishing up the camp in Japan for the upcoming Algarve Cup, Nadeshiko Japan arrived in Portugal on Thursday 27 February. Since this time is the fifth straight and fifth all-time appearance in the tournament and they have stayed at the same place every time in the past, it seemed coming back home again for the team. As the facility has quiet atmosphere with a football pitch and training gym on its premises, the players started running and ice-breaking games on the pitch right after their arrival.

On the next day, the morning had a two-hour training session. After field players and goalkeepers warmed up separately, goalkeepers moved on to catching drills on a sand pitch for beach soccer, which made it physically demanding for them. After that, the whole team got back together for match-situational drills before playing an intra-squad match in the end.

The team will have a practice match against the United States, who have been practicing in Algarve since 23 of this month.

Comments

FW 24 SUGASAWA Yuika（JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies）
Now that we are in Portugal, I feel that matches are about to start. The Algarve Cup is where I scored the very first goal in my national team career. As a striker, my objective is to get to play as long as possible and go for the goal aggressively. I think (how well I can play in) this tournament will determine whether I can be on the World Cup roster. As a team, this tournament is also the key because winning this tournament will push us forward to our goal.

GK 1 FUKUMOTO Miho（Okayama Yunogo Belle）
I want to get myself ready here to play against the other countries. Even after practices, I want to keep communicating with my teammates what we are supposed to do as a team. Individually I want to improve myself every day first before worrying about getting my playtime.

DF 2 KINGA Yukari（INAC Kobe）
Against the quick United States team, I think we will have a lot to work with on the defensive end. We will also have to work on how we move the ball around and how we go for the goal as we move the ball. We want to have good offensive plays, too. This Algarve Cup has all the good teams in the world. Against them, it will be difficult to go for both playing a good match and getting a win, but we will have to try as much as we can. This is a good simulation for the World Cup, so we will have clear vision as a team on what to do and I will make sure what I can do there.

Schedule

*Local Time