On Saturday 10 August, ahead of their third group stage match against Paraguay at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup France 2018, the U-20 Japan Women's National Team left their camp site in Bénodet, where they spent over 10 days after arriving to France, to move to Plomeur. The following day on Sunday 11 August, the team conducted a two-part practice session where they trained both in the morning and the afternoon. In the morning session, the team was divided into two groups where one group conditioned themselves at their hotel, while the other group trained on the field. At the training field, the players were seen going over drills of passing, ball control, possessions, taking shots from crosses, and one-on-ones in front of the goal. The morning session concluded after a 4 vs 4 scrimmage with goalkeepers. In the afternoon session, all players were gathered on the field where they once again went through passing, ball control, and possession drills. The team was then divided into offence and defence to go over further trainings such as possessions and shooting drills.

Japan’s third group stage match of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup France 2018 will kick-off on Monday 13 August at 13:30 local time against the U-20 Paraguay Women's National Team.

Players’ Comments

GK #18 STAMBAUGH Hannah (INAC KOBE LEONESSA)
In our next match, it will be important for us to take a close look at the opponents and make the adjustments accordingly. As a goalkeeper, I will like to keep a clean sheet. We will like to discuss what we must do ahead of our match against Paraguay as a team. With one day left to prepare, we will strive towards victory while keeping a smile.

DF #2 ONO Nana (Kanagawa University)
From the first two matches, I was given the opportunity to feel the World Cup’s unique atmosphere of a stadium in first hand. Although I sat on the bench for those matches, I am prepared to go out on the pitch whenever I am asked for. As a defender, I would give all I’ve got to defend the goal and hope to initiate the attacks from my passes.

MF #7 HAYASHI Honoka (CEREZO OSAKA SAKAI LADIES)
In this World Cup, I’m getting the impression that many goals are getting scored from shots taken from close range, so I would like to take more shots aggressively. However, that could be said on the other side, and if we are caught off guard, our opponents will capitalise on those situations, so we must stay alerted. When facing Paraguay, we must learn from our match against Spain and create more variations in our offence, such as side attacks and shots from long distance.

Schedule

*Local Time, Japan time indicated within the parentheses
*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup France 2018

Tournament Dates: Sun. 5 August - Sat. 24 August 2018
Live broadcasting for all of the Japanese matches scheduled on Fuji Television NEXT
Information on live broadcast(Japanese website)
Tournament Information