AFC U-16 Women's Championship Thailand 2019
vs U-16 Australia Women's National Team
Sun. 15 September 2019 16:00 (Local time) Match Duration 90mins (45minsｘ2)
IPE Chonburi Stadium (Chonburi, Thailand)

U-16 Japan Women's National Team 0-0 (0-0, 0-0) U-16 Australia Women's National Team

Starting Line-up
GK: NODA Nina
DF: KOYAMA Shinomi, HAYASHI Manaka, ISHIKAWA Rion, OGIKUBO Yuri
MF: INOSE Yuko, OYAMA Aemu, OTA Moe, MINOWA Chisato
FW: NISHIO Hanon, HAMANO Maika

Reserves
GK: HATTORI Momoka, OKUMA Akane
DF: ASAYAMA Mahiro, HIRANAKA Kyono , IDE Hinata
MF: TANNO Ririka, NISHIGORI Mahiro
FW: NEBU Momoko, FUJINO Aoba, NISHIKIORI Miki

Non-rostered Players (due to suspension, injury, etc.)
DF: AMANO Suzu, ASAKURA Kanako

Substitutions
30' KOYAMA Shinomi → NEBU Momoko
67' INOSE Yuko → ASAYAMA Mahiro
80' NISHIO Hanon → NISHIGORI Mahiro

Match Report

On Sunday 15 September, the U-16 Japan Women's National Team faced the U-16 Australia Women's National Team at IPE Chonburi Stadium in their first match of the AFC U-16 Women's Championship Thailand 2019.

The two teams showcased a heated battle from the early minutes, as both sides played with great aggression to take the initiative of the match. In the fourth minute, Japanese midfielders, OYAMA Aemu and HAMANO Maika, exchanged passes before sending a through ball that allowed NISHIO Hanon to break through the open space, but the play was called offside. Australia had their moment in the 10th minute when their striker intercepted the ball deep in the Japanese territory and dribbled passed the goalkeeper NODA Nina, but her final shot was blocked by ISHIKAWA Rion, who made a sliding effort to clear the ball. Japan’s biggest opportunity of the first half came in the 20th minute, when MINOWA Chisato received the ball unmarked inside the box, but her shot was denied the crossbar. Despite all the opportunities created by the two sides, the match entered halftime scoreless.

The second half saw Japan shortening the distance between each other to keep their offence compact. Their new approach allowed them to create more opportunities to threaten the Australian goal, but the team still struggled to convert their chances. In the 52nd minute, Oyama sent a pass to allow Hamano to take a shot inside the box, but her attempt couldn’t hit the target. In the 73rd minute, this time Hamano delivered the last pass to NEBU Momoko, but her effort was blocked by the opposing goalkeeper. After utilising all of their substitutes, an Australian player had to leave the game with an injury in the 87th minute, which left the Australian side with no choice but to play with 10 players for the remainder of the match. Japan made their final efforts to break the deadlock, but Australia also showed great efforts to keep the clean sheet intact, as the match ended in a scoreless draw.

This day was Japanese goalkeeper OKUMA Akane’s birthday, and the team threw a surprise birthday party for her after dinner.

The U-16 Japan Women's National Team will now face the U-16 Bangladesh Women's National Team on Wednesday 18 September.

Coach and Players' Comments

KANO Michihisa, Coach
We have been demanding our players to become able to play more than two positions. In that way, the players can have a wider perspective when making their decisions on the field. Especially in a match like today, where our opponent had to play with just 10 players, I wanted our players to be able to make the appropriate decisions on the field, but I feel like we weren’t able make the necessary adjustments. However, it was our first match of the tournament, and we looked a bit nervous at first. In our second match, we hope to play more aggressively and strive to heighten the quality of our plays at the final third.

DF #5 ASAYAMA Mahiro (Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls)
I started on the bench, so I focused on following the game flow at first. We entered the match poorly and made many mistakes in our build-up plays. Although we struggled to pick up our pace at first, we gradually found our rhythm and created many opportunities from plays we have worked in our trainings. From my perspective as a defender, I felt like we could have done a better job in controlling our defence line, while our coach sent me into the match by telling me to show support for our offence, so those were the aspects I focused on once entering the match. I didn’t get to touch the ball as much, but I focused on getting my job done. I will prepare myself well ahead of our next match and try to get myself more involved in both offence and defence, so that I can help the team win the match.

MF #15 OGIKUBO Yuri (Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls)
We looked nervous at first and couldn’t pick up our pace, but we gradually found our rhythm and managed to move the ball around to create opportunities. However, we lacked quality at the final third and couldn’t convert our chances. We also gave up a critical opportunity to our opponent from a passing error, so we must improve the quality of our plays and work hard to prepare ourselves, so that we can win our next match.

MF #17 INOSE Yuko (Mynavi Vegalta Sendai Ladies Youth)
In the early minutes of the match, we looked rushed and couldn’t possess the ball, which created a difficult game flow for us. We weren’t able to execute the plays we worked on during trainings and couldn’t capitalise on our opportunities. However, we managed to play tenaciously in front of our goal and showed great focus to keep the clean sheet. I entered the match as a left midfielder, and the player I matched up was a big player who didn’t look so agile, so I tried attacking my side as much as possible. Although I was able to earn many freekicks and corner kicks from my side, we weren’t able to capitalise on the opportunities, so that’s something we must improve on. We only have two more days until our next match, but we hope to heighten our combinations and become more critical in front of the goal.

Schedule

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

AFC U-16 Women's Championship Thailand 2019

Tournament Dates: Sun. 15 - Sat. 28 September 2019

Group Stage:
Sun. 15 September 18:00 (Japan time)
vs U-16 Australia Women's National Team

Wed. 18 September 18:00 (Japan time)
vs U-16 Bangladesh Women's National Team

Sat. 21 September 18:00 (Japan time)
vs U-16 Thailand Women's National Team

Tournament Information