The 30th Summer Universiade Napoli 2019 vs Italy Women's Universiade National Team
Tue. 2 July 2019 18:00 (local time) Match duration 90mins (45mins×2)
Stadio ARECHI (Salerno, Italy)

Japan Women's Universiade National Team 2-1 (1-1, 1-0) Italy Women's Universiade National Team

Scores
18' KOYAMA Yurina (Japan Women's Universiade National Team)
30' goal against (Italy Women's Universiade National Team)
74' KOYAMA Yurina (Japan Women's Universiade National Team)

Starting Line-up
GK: FUKUTA Mai
DF: TSUNEDA Nana, ISHIDA Nanami, SEKIGUCHI Mai, HIGASHI Natsuki
MF: HARA Yuka, KUBO Mariko, IBARAKI Mitsuba, IMAI Yurina
FW: KOYAMA Yurina, IMADA Sara

Reserves
GK: YONEZAWA Moeka
DF: KUDO Mako
MF: IMADA Reina, CHIBA Remina, OKUTSU Rena, SUZUKI Hinako, MURAKAMI Maho, MATSUMOTO Manaka
FW: OUCHI Rio

Substitutions
HT HARA Yuka → CHIBA Remina
65' IBARAKI Mitsuba → MATSUMOTO Manaka
89' IMADA Sara → OUCHI Rio

Match Report

On Tuesday 2 July, the Japan Women's Universiade National Team played their first group match of the 30th Summer Universiade Napoli 2019 against the host nation, Italy Women's Universiade National Team.

While Japan tried to construct their game through the short passes, Italy anticipated for their opportunities from the long balls. Japan struggled to find their rhythm in the early goings, but came close in the fifth minute, when the ball was connected through SEKIGUCHI Mai to IMAI Yurina, before Imai sent a cross towards the centre, allowing KOYAMA Yurina to strike a shot, but her attempt failed to hit the target. Japan continued to press forward but lacked quality in their final passes to create a major threat. Despite their struggles, Japan managed to score the opening goal in the 18th minute, when they intercepted a pass to initiate their attack. It was Koyama who fired the final shot that pierced the right-hand corner of the goal. However, following this goal, Japan started to play passively and allowed Italy to take control of the match. In the 30th minute, Italy scored the equaliser from a break away down the centre, sending the match into halftime with an even score line.

Coach MOCHIZUKI Satoru made the adjustments during halftime to change the dynamics of the match, but the second half turned into a deadlock, with both sides getting their patience tested. It was Japan who broke the salience, as Koyama responded to a through ball delivered by MATSUMOTO Manaka to capture the go-ahead goal in the 74th minute. While both sides exchanged numbers of opportunities following this goal, the Japanese defence line persevered through the final minutes of the match to keep their one goal lead intact, earning the victory in their first match of the tournament.

The Japan Women's Universiade National Team will face the USA on Saturday 6 July.

Coach and Players' Comments

MOCHIZUKI Satoru, Coach
With the team facing an away match in our tournament opener, it meant a lot for us to win this close battle. I am very proud of my players for showcasing a persistent effort in both offence and defence. The players executed the fundamental concept of this team by keeping a good distance between each other for the entire 90 minutes. We also wanted to display quick transitions from defence to offence, but we had a stint during the first half where we lacked quality in our plays and allowed our opponents to take control of the match. As a whole, our defence did well throughout the match, while our offence saw rooms for improvements. The team must be able to make good decisions and execute the plays with precision, even under difficult circumstances. We will analyse today’s match and prepare ourselves ahead of our next match against the USA.

MF #10 IMAI Yurina (Nippon Sport Science University)
I am glad that we were able to win our first match. With the team being nervous, we looked stiff at first, but after scoring the first goal, we found our rhythm. However, we let our guards down to allow our opponent to equalise the match, so that’s something we need to fix ahead of our next match. I feel that we need to be more detail oriented from our training sessions in order to heighten the quality of our plays. We will be facing the USA soon, so we will prepare ourselves ahead of the match.

MF #19 MATSUMOTO Manaka (Waseda University)
I entered the match from the 20th minute mark of the second half. With the opponents showing signs of fatigue, I focused on making the runs behind their defence line and penetrating the flanks with my dribbles. It was great that we managed to score the second goal, but we also gave up numbers of close chances to our opponents, so we need to be clearer on how we manage the risks. When facing teams from abroad, our opponents usually have the advantage in height and athleticism, so we must find ways to fill in that gap with a different quality.

FW ＃17 KOYAMA Yurina (Yamanashi Gakuin University)
As a forward, I entered this tournament with the intention to score goals, so I am glad that I was able to contribute to the team victory with my two goals. We started off the match by creating close opportunities, but we slowly gave up the initiative to our opponents. However, we still had the confidence that we can take the match, so we kept communicating with each other and got ourselves involved with the ball. With our defence showing great persistency, we were able to start off the tournament with a win. This is a win we earned as a team, and we hope to use this momentum to win our next match.

Schedule

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

The 30th Summer Universiade Napoli 2019

Tournament Duration: Wed. 3 - Sun. 14 July 2019

Tournament Information