2nd Match of Portugal Tour vs Portugal Women's Futsal National Team

Mon. 3 September 2018 Kick-off 20:30 (local time) Match duration 40mins (20mins x2)
Pavilhao Centro de Estagios de Rio Maior (Lisbon, Portugal)

Japan Women's Futsal National Team 0-4 (0-2, 0-2) Portugal Women's Futsal National Team

Scores
14' goal against (Portugal Women's Futsal National Team)
19' goal against (Portugal Women's Futsal National Team)
35' goal against (Portugal Women's Futsal National Team)
36' goal against (Portugal Women's Futsal National Team)

Starting Line-up
GK: YAMAMOTO Fuka
FP: KATO Masami, AMISHIRO Anna, FUJITA Mio, EGAWA Ryo

Reserves
GK: YAMAMOTO Ayaka
FP: KOBAYASHI Misaki, HIRAI Yuka, NAWATA Mika, ITO Kaho, EGUCHI Mika, KITAGAWA Kana, TAKAO Akari, YAMAKAWA Rikako

Match Report

On Monday 3 September, the Japan Women's Futsal National Team faced the Portugal Women's Futsal National Team for the second time during their tour in Portugal and lost the match 0-4.

After losing their first match 0-8, Coach KOGURE Kenichiro gave a pep-talk to his players saying, “Let’s head into the second match with the pride as the Japan National Team.” The Japanese players responded to his words by showing aggressive plays from the start of the match to create chances. Although Japan came close to scoring the opening goal in the first minute of the match, the first goal was scored by Portugal in the 14th minute, followed by another goal in the 19th minute. Despite conceding the goals, Japan kept on communicating with each other to cope with the Portuguese players who displayed a physical advantage, ending the half without conceding further goals.

During halftime, Coach Kogure sent off the players by encouraging them, “We are doing what we are supposed to do. Let’s go out there with confidence and win the match!”

The Japanese side came out creating numbers of goal scoring opportunities in the second half, but once again it was the Portugal side who found the back of the net, as they scored consecutive goals in the 35th and 36th minute. Japan kept on making efforts to score a goal, but came short from capturing the goal, as the match ended with a final score of 4-0. Many spectators came to watch the two matches as the Japanese squad was given a warm applause after the match.

After the match, Coach Kogure told his players, “In the second match, we managed to improve dramatically from our first match, and you should be proud of that. Let’s go back to Japan with our heads held high. We must share and utilise this experience to heighten the overall level of our team and the entire league. Our road to 2020 has just begun. Every single effort made from here on will get us closer to the championship.”

The next scheduled activity for the Japan Women's Futsal National Team will be in 10 months. Until then, the players will train on their own to become the Champions of Asia.

Technical Director's Comment

KONISHI Teppei, Futsal Technical Director
In order for the Japan Women's Futsal National Team to win the title at the AFC Women's Futsal Championship in 2020, the team had to question themselves, which aspects they must improve to become the world’s best team. There are many answers to this question, such as the physical, technical, and mental aspects, the experience, and the level of their daily routine. This tour has made it clear for us that we must heighten the overall level of all of those aspects I have just listed. And for us to accomplish our goal, we must experience more matches against the world’s powerhouses. Especially because what we can experience and gain while playing in Japan and Asia is limited. The players must also get used to representing the nation, and to adjust their plays with their teammates within the given time frame, while executing what the coach has demanded for the team. That is why we must create more activities for the team and continue to do so from the development age categories to heighten the overall level of the national team. From this tour in Portugal, these 14 players and the staffs were able to learn in first hand, just how far away they are from the world’s top-level. I hope that they can convey their experience to their team and teammates, while implementing what they have learnt into their daily trainings. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who has supported the team to make this tour possible. Thankyou very much.

Player's Comment

FP＃14 FUJITA Mio (FUCHU ATHLETIC F.C. PRIMEIRA)
During the two matches of this tour, we gave up so many goals while scoring zero goals. However, we were able to experience in first hand that a small mistake can lead to conceding goals, and the difference in speed and power at the world level. We must accept this result and work hard to shorten the gap between the world and ourselves. This was my first tour to Europe and it has given me the opportunity to see and acknowledge the world’s standard. Our goal is to win the AFC Women's Futsal Championship in 2020. Although this was a tour conducted in a short period of time, I would like to feed off of this experience so that we can strive for a higher standard.

Schedule

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