On 21 June, Nadeshiko Japan, now in the middle of their FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 campaign, had another practice for the first match in the knockout stage first round (Round of 16) against the Netherlands to be held in Vancouver on 23 (24 Japan time).

Under strong sunshine, the practice lasted for 90 minutes behind closed doors except for the first 15 minutes just as the previous day. The team spent the majority of time for making sure their offensive and defensive combinations and set pieces in a game-style drill. 

After the practice, several players, mainly defenders, were seen staying on the pitch and discussing with each other. 

MF SAWA Homare (INAC Kobe) who is making her sixth FIFA World Cup appearance talked about the tournament and her stance on the upcoming match saying “Looking at any match in the tournament, the decisiveness has been outstanding. Japan want to emulate that when we play. I will make sure to do well both offensively and defensively for our team to win.”

DF SAMESHIMA Aya (INAC Kobe), after reviewing the appropriate distance between players, also said of next match “From now on one loss will end everything. First we will hold our opponents scoreless, and then try to win the match.”

As the day two of the knockout stage first round had three matches, Australia who passed through Group D at second place gave 1-0 loss to Brazil who came out of Group E atop and Australia advanced to last eight. If Japan win against the Netherlands, they will then face Australia in the quarter-final.

Meanwhile host Canada who topped Group A edged Group C’s third-placed Switzerland 1-0 and grabbed the spot in the next round. France, first place of Group F, also moved on by beating Group E’s second-placed Korea Republic 3-0.

Being aware of the outcome of the Brazil-Australia match, MF KAWASUMI Nahomi (INAC Kobe) said “The pre-match expectations don’t mean anything. Of course you can’t win with momentum alone, but something like that is often necessary. We want to pay attention to the details in every situation and play together for Japan to keep standing as winners.”

Players' Comments

MF #10   SAWA Homare (INAC Kobe)
It is not easy to score a goal and win a match in the World Cup. But we have made sure to do that so far. So it’s a good takeaway for us. The Netherlands are athletic, tall and physically strong, and their centre backs have a good kicking ability to feed to the other side by just one kick.They are seemingly very quick vertically. 

(If I get to play,) I will make sure to do well both offensively and defensively. Every match is a must-win in the knockout stage, but if you don’t concede a goal, you can win. We will keep that in mind and play as a team.

MF #9   KAWASUMI Nahomi (INAC Kobe)
We have watched the film of the Netherlands and I watched their Canada match in person, too. So I have a good idea of how they play. Their side attackers are very aggressive players. It is absolutely necessary to support each other even after we get the ball, so if I get to play, I will make sure to do it.

Once you lose a match, it’s over in the knockout system, so we want to focus only one match at a time. I am in a good shape, so I want to keep this good condition and wait for a chance to play. 

MF #6   SAKAGUCHI Mizuho (Nippon TV Beleza)
(On having about one week between the last group stage match and next match) We have more days in between than other countries, and we can prepare ourselves as we analyse the Netherlands.

So I think it’s good for us in that regard. Our offence has tended to be a little too simple and we haven’t gone through our defensive midfielders so often. So I do have a feeling that I want to get involved in the ball a little more. (On the Netherlands match) The key is their speed. I am so ready to do it.

DF #5   SAMESHIMA Aya (INAC Kobe)
The Netherlands have fast players in their offence especially on the sides. They are tall overall as well, so we don’t want them to take advantage of their speed. I think we will have fewer opportunities to score goals than in the group stage, so we all need to keep that in mind and play our game. We want to keep thinking about how to win out.

FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015

Second Stage Round of 16
Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women’s National Team)    vs.  Netherlands Women's National Team
Wed. 24 June - 11:00 (Japan time)

More information