On Friday 29 November, the Japan Football Association announced the squad of the Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women’s National Team), who will be attending the EAFF E-1 Football Championship 2019 Final, scheduled to take place from Tuesday 10 December at Busan, Korea Republic. At the press conference, coach TAKAKURA Asako shared her aspiration for the tournament, “We went through a bitter experience last year, so we hope to bring back the title this year.”

This year will be the seventh edition of the EAFF E-1 Football Championship, where a total of four Eastern Asian countries will compete for the men’s and women’s title. The Nadeshiko Japan will play against Korea Republic, China PR, and Chinese Taipei in a round robin format in search for their third title, first since 2010.

With the tournament being held on a non-International Match day, players playing in Europe will not be able to attend, as team captain KUMAGAI Saki (Olympique Lyonnais) was not listed on the 23-player roster. “In order for this team to win at the world stage, we need players to step up to take the leadership role.” Coach Takakura demanded her players to rise to the occasion, as she continued to mention, “I need every player to show their leadership, and hopefully, one of them will demonstrate a strong leadership that can become the core of this team.”

For Nadeshiko Japan, this will be their final official tournament ahead of next year’s Tokyo Olympics. With the roster for the Olympics being limited to 18 players, this EAFF E-1 Football Championship will provide a precious opportunity for the players to make a case for themselves. Among the 23 players named on this day, 10 players have less than 10 caps for the Japan Women’s National Team, including SEIKE Kiko (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies), who has zero caps thus far.

Also, from the “Nadeshiko Challenge” held at J-GREEN Sakai on Sunday 17 November, IKEJIRI Mayu (Suwan WFC) was selected into the squad, as coach Takakura mentioned of her talents, “She is a lefty who has a unique game intuition and ability to score goals. I wanted to see her at this tournament.”

This tournament in Busan will represent the final activity in 2019 for both the SAMURAI BLUE and the Nadeshiko Japan. Coach Takakura shared her aspiration for the two Japanese teams, “It will provide great inspiration for the two teams. We hope to see both teams bring back the gold medal.”

Comment

TAKAKURA Asako, Coach of Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women’s National Team)
While this tournament represents our final competition of the year, this will also serve as our final official tournament ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. Following the World Cup, we have played in matches against Canada and South Africa, where we managed to improve ourselves through each match. Although this is a tournament of Eastern Asia, we hope to showcase a dominating performance to prove that we are the number one team in Asia. I will be demanding both results and quality performances from our team.

Schedule

*Local Time
*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.

EAFF E-1 Football Championship 2019 Final Korea Republic

Tournament Dates: Tue. 10 - Wed. 18 December 2019
Tournament Venue: Busan Gudeok Stadium/Busan Asiad Main Stadium (Korea Republic)
Participating Countries: Chinese Taipei, China PR, Japan, Korea Republic

Tournament Information

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