HYOGO FUTSAL WOMEN’S FRIENDLY MATCH 2015
2015-7-17 (Fri.) -11:30   Playing time: 20min. x 2
Green Arena Kobe (Kobe, Hyogo)

Japan Women's Futsal National Team short-listed squad  4-1 (1st 2-0, 2nd 2-1)  Hyogo Selection

Scores
13'12"    KATO Saori (Japan)
17'36"    SAKATA Mutsumi (Japan)
22'35"    Goal against (Hyogo)
24'06"    AMISHIRO Anna (Japan)
29'50"    Own goal (Japan)

Line-ups
GK:  YAMAMOTO Ayaka
FP:  NAKAJIMA Shiori, KATO Saori, SEKINADA Minako, HARUYAMA Ai

Substitutes
GK:  YAMASHITA Miyuki
FP:  KOMURA Misato, HOTTA Eriko, HIGASHIYAMA Maiko, SAKATA Mutsumi, AMISHIRO Anna, KICHIBAYASHI Chikage, IGARASHI Manami, TAKAO Akari

Match Report

Japan Women's Futsal National Team short-listed squad played a practice match against the Hyogo Selection team on their 2nd day of the training camp on Friday 17 July.

It started as a see-saw match early. In the 2nd minute, YAMAMOTO Ayaka blocked an opponent’s shot in a one-on-one situation. After passing the five-minute mark, Japan’s squad started creating their own rhythm, yet getting the ball in the opponents’ end didn’t lead to a shot. 

In the 12th minute, HARUYAMA Ai passed by one defender in front of the goal and fired a shot, which was denied remarkably by the opposing goalkeeper. Then a minute later, KATO Saori picked up the ball in a scramble near the goal and struck hard into the net for the awaited opening goal for the team. 

In the 17th minute, it was SAKATA Mutsumi from a feed from NAKAJIMA Shiori that extended the lead to 2-0 before the first half finished. 

Despite a goal against in the 22nd minute, KOMURA Misato and AMISHIRO Anna took the ball to the goal in the 24th minute and Amishiro netted it to bring the scoring 3-1. Furthermore in the 29th minute, a failed clearance by an opponent against KICHIBAYASHI Chikage’s cut-back went into the opponents’ goal. The match saw any more goals scored and ended 4-1.

Coach and Players' Comments

ARIHARA Masaaki, Coach
We took this match as an important opportunity for our development for the AFC Championship in September, and particularly took the first half as the simulation for the opening match against Vietnam. So we played mainly the players who played in the World Tournament. 

Since the Hyogo Selection squad played remarkably well, it enabled us to spend a very meaningful 20 minutes for solving our existing problems, such as pressing from our possession and also possessing the ball from pressing, which is a cycle of plays that we are aiming for, how we get our offence started while we are being pushed back, and also how we rebuild our organisation after it once breaks down.

In the second half, we played mainly the players who have potential to bring more options for us. Although they had some concern in teamwork, but there were many players who were able to show what they can do. I am satisfied with their performance. 

Tomorrow and for the rest of the camp, we will maintain quality training as a team to establish our team’s playing style and get ready for the match against Cataluna Selection on 19 July. 

KATO Saori (Bardral Urayasu)
I was a little nervous because we played the match after only one practice session. Early in the match, we could not get around the opponents’ pressing well, but I think we gradually grabbed our pace. 

I thought we need to improve our communication on the pitch, for example when to give the ball to pivo and when to support it. For me individually, I need to make decisions faster and also make my transitions faster. I found many areas of my play to improve. But even with those problems, it was good that we could finish the training match with a win.

I am happy to be able to play in this great environment. I will keep working hard to make this three days very meaningful for me and also for my team.

YAMASHITA Miyuki (Amaralo / Mine FC)
In this match I started playing in the second half. Usually with my own team, getting onto the pitch from the second half is rare for me, so I was a little nervous in that rare situation. But my teammates supported me and I could get into plays in good condition. 

We won the match, but there were things to improve later including the distance to maintain between FPs and me and also the fact that we allowed a goal. I will correct those in the training from tomorrow.

HARUYAMA Ai (arco-iris KOBE)
I would like to thank all the people including Hyogo Futsal Federation who made this match possible. We came out for the match only after practicing once, but we worked hard to communicate with each other, share the team concept and displayed it with our plays. 

While doing so, we found many successes and failures and it was good that we won the match above all. We take advantage of our findings today in the training from tomorrow and keep working hard to step up as a team.

IGARASHI Manami (Maruoka RUCK Ladies)
When we played today, we kept what we learned in yesterday’s training in mind, for example distances between three field players and keeping the ball going only with one or two touches. We will reflect what we could do today and couldn’t do, and take it to the upcoming training and matches. 

I was given an opportunity to play together with players playing overseas and playing at the highest level in Japanese women’s futsal. So I keep communicating with them and learn from them as many things as possible.  

Schedule

*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condtion, the weather, etc.