With two days before the opening game of the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Papua New Guinea against Nigeria on Sunday 13 November, the U-20 Japan Women's National Team held an official training session and met with the press on Friday 11 November at the match venue.

Prior to the official training session, the team did some passing and controlling exercises and shooting practice with defenders and went through reacting to crosses in front of the goal on the pitch near the stadium, in order to concentrate and make the most of the limited time for the practice at the match venue.

After moving to the stadium, they held an official session, which was closed apart from the first 15 minutes and practiced checking on the condition of the pitch.

Coach TAKAKURA Asako and NORIMATSU Ruka appeared at the press conference, where the coach commented with enthusiasm: ‘since Nigeria is a strong team and they have attained good results in three consecutive championships, we’d like to display our strength against them.’

Players' Comments

DF ＃5 NORIMATSU Ruka (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies)
I think one of the most vital things for us is to build up momentum during the short championship. So the first game against Nigeria is essential. Our aim is to keep a clean sheet throughout the Cup. I’d like to impact the game by creating scoring chances and even scoring goals.

MF ＃14 MIURA Narumi (NIPPON TV BELEZA)
As I have been working on core exercises in my club, my personal aim in this cup is to stay physical and win the battles for the ball. I want to make chances for the team to score by displaying my strengths—creating open areas and capitalising on my teammates’ individual skills. I cannot wait to see how well we can play at the international level, since we have been practicing and experiencing many new things in training. I am confident in our abilities. So I’d like to showcase my strength to win the Cup.

MF ＃17 MATSUBARA Shiho (CEREZO OSAKA SAKAI LADIES)
I’d like to prepare well in order to perform well in any position, always thinking of contributing to the team. Especially when I play up-front, I’d like to aggressively take shots, initiate attacks and create goal-scoring opportunities.

Schedule

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