The Nadeshiko Japan squad had their fifth day in Canada on Friday 5 June and practiced in the early evening in Vancouver. With comfortable breeze blowing, the pitch received strong sunshine on its artificial turf. 

As Japan are in the middle of their preparation for the first match of the group stage against Switzerland on Monday 8, only the first 15 minutes of the practice was open to media. After loosening their body, head coach SASAKI Norio using a board gave passionate instructions to the players.

Later on, the team had the so-called Yo-yo test to check the players’ conditions by measuring their heartbeat rate. Sasaki said “Our players are getting better recovery rate than the early days of the camp.” “The rotation of the ball is certainly less than what we usually have, but it’s important to get the feel of it at the real match venue. The movement of the ball will also get affected by the fact whether they water the pitch or not,” added Sasaki on the artificial turf and importance of adjustability to the different pitch.

Nadeshiko Japan kept fine-tuning themselves by taking on game-style practices simulating the upcoming match against Switzerland.

Players' Comments

MF #8   MIYAMA Aya (Okayama Yunogo Belle)
Now is the time when we should make sure what we are supposed to do. During the practices, we do that, too. The artificial turf here is different from the ones we have in Japan and we don’t know what the stadium’s turf is like yet, but it shouldn’t be a big problem.
In every tournament, the first match is difficult to play. We shouldn’t put ourselves in a situation where we worry too much about the result and can’t play to our strength. We want to make sure we will play aggressively from the start. We will have to defend longer than we did in the last two friendly matches in Japan, so we will play collectively to deal with it. We will get ourselves ready in order to play well no matter who gets on the pitch, and will do what we are supposed to do at the highest level.

FW #11   ONO Shinobu (INAC Kobe)
On artificial turfs, balls go to places where we don’t expect the balls to go. So we always keep our eye on the ball and be careful with it. When we think we kick it too hard, it sometimes doesn’t go as far. That may be beneficial for us Japanese. If we feed to the space behind the defenders and chase the ball without ever giving it up, it should give us a goal in the end. We need to take it positively. Including myself we haven’t got used to it perfectly, but adjusting to it is one of the skills required, and that’s one of Japanese players’ strength. Our frontline players have been able to play aggressively to the goal.

GK #21   YAMANE Erina (JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies)
Depending on the spots on the pitch and the difference in the number of chips there, the ball bounces differently. The ball moves more in the air, too. Of course we have to be careful when we kick it, but at the same time I want to stay alert for the movement of the ball that the opponents shoot.
Switzerland we face in the first match generally seem to move fast vertically. Players on the flanks are also strong and quick and feed good crosses even from a tough spot. Any international rosters have quick and tall players. The strength of our defence is to defend collectively and check every dangerous opponent one after another. We will make sure to talk each other and work together.

FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015

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