Nadeshiko Japan had two practice sessions, one in the morning and other in the afternoon, to prepare for the Asian Qualifiers Final Round for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics on 23 February, in the second day since they entered in Osaka.

In the morning, the team worked on light training such as ball exchange and crossing and shooting, and then in the afternoon, they went through some practical menus such as 4-on-3 and 1-on-1 against male collegiate players, being divided into the offensive group and defensive group. They wrapped it up with an 11-on-11 game.

“We would like to develop our passing speed and qualify by playing against the collegiate players, so we would have an edge in Asia,” Japan Coach SASAKI Norio, whose squad has sorted out their issues that they came up with in last year's Women's World Cup. “In order to surely qualify through the qualifying, I'm asking them to pursue details.” The players have elaborately been checking their own moves at the significant situations outside of the pitch.

Forward IWABUCHI Mana, who's back with the national team for the first time in half a year, fully participated in the practices. “I've already been back in action at my club. I'm happy to be back here,” she said.

Forward OGIMI Yuki arrived before the lunch time, and the team now has the complete squad. Yet forward SUGASAWA Yuika, who hurt herself in the training the day before, has left the team. When she left the site, the players and staff assembled at the hotel lobby to send her off.

Fellow forward TAKASE Megumi said, "Sugasawa told me, 'do your best for my sake. In order to compete at the Olympics together, we'll just try to punch the ticket."

There are six days remaining until their game against Australia on 29 February.

Players' Comments

FW  OGIMI Yuki (1. FFC Frankfurt)
I still have fatigue from my traveling, but I've been able to join the team in good condition. I'm excited to be able to compete with everybody on this team at the Olympics qualifying, and I think that it is going to be a tournament that will give a chance to grow both as an individual and as the team. Through the training camps in Ishigaki and Okinawa, we've gotten to have more communication between ourselves, and I feel that we have been on the same page and shared our image more. I believe that it's best for us to get in the game how we play as usually as possible, so we would like to make our mood surrounding the team better as well.

FW  TAKASE Megumi (INAC KOBE LEONESSA)
It's gone pretty fast since we started our national team activities in Ishigaki Island. Our physical condition has gotten better day in and day out while we've gotten to have better ideas on what we do, so I think I've done good preparation. Individually, I've been able to play actively, not passively and negatively, and I have the feelings that I can elevate that. I would like to come up with some outcomes in tangible ways, such as scoring or playing physically.

Nadeshiko Channel (Japanese version only)

Schedule

*The schedule and venues are subject to change.

Asian Qualifiers Final Round (Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016)

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