With their final training match ahead of the FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019 scheduled on Sunday 2 June against the Spain Women’s National Team, the Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women's National Team) resumed their trainings at Le Touquet, a town in northern France.

The team had placed their main focus on defence since starting the camp in Wednesday 22 May, but on this day, the team took their emphasis on shooting. Coach TAKAKURA Asako mentioned prior to the training session, “I want everyone on this team to be able to take shots from any spot on the field. You need to be more eager to take shots.” The coach continued to explain her point by saying, “Possessing the ball is important, but our goal is not to move the ball around for no reason.”

During the session, the players started off by taking shots outside the penalty area, followed by shots taken off crosses delivered from the flanks. After the team went through variations of shooting drills, a scrimmage was played in a small grid where players had to organise themselves in order to take quick shots within the limited space.

All the shooting drills conducted on this day meant that the goalkeepers had a busy day a work. The three goalkeepers, IKEDA Sakiko, YAMASHITA Ayaka, and HIRAO Chika took their turns to face the shots non-stop. It was clear that their job was not to make the field players feel good about themselves, as the goalkeepers made excellent saves over and over to prove that they are the team’s final resort in defence.

The Nadeshiko Japan will play an international friendly match against the Spain Women's National Team on Sunday 2 June, followed by their first group stage match of the FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019 against Argentina.

Players' Comments

MF #7 NAKAJIMA Emi (INAC Kobe Leonessa)
We focused on our offence in today’s training session. We hope to heighten our quality of plays by utilising our combinations to score goals. I personally would like to get myself involved in plays that produces goals. In order to utilise the team’s strengths, we need to keep the ball moving while anticipating for our opportunity to break down the opponents. We will be facing opponents with great speed and we won’t have that much time to think with the ball, so we need to make quicker decisions while we play.

MF #15 MOMIKI Yuka (Nippon TV Beleza)
Even if we want to increase our time with the ball, there will be situations where we can’t possess the ball as we’d like. That is why we must be critical in the limited opportunities. As a small player, I must take a tactical approach against the foreign players who are taller and faster than me. The match against Spain will be our final training match ahead of the World Cup, so we hope to showcase what we have been working on while seeking for the aspects we still need to improve on.

MF #6 SUGITA Hina (INAC Kobe Leonessa)
This was our third day training in France, but the team has been able to conduct the training session with great focus. At the group stage of the World Cup, we hope to win our matches while enjoying the moment.

Schedule

Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women’s National Team) Squad, Schedule

FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019

Tournament Dates: Fri. 7 June - Sun. 7 July 2019

Group Stage:
Tue. 11 June 2019 01:00 (Japan time)
vs Argentina Women's National Team

Fri. 14 June 2019 22:00 (Japan time)
vs Scotland Women's National Team

Thu. 20 June 2019 04:00 (Japan time)
vs England Women's National Team

Tournament Information