The U-17 Japan Women’s National Team, who are participating in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Jordan 2016, played the semi-finals against the U-17 Spain women’s national team at King Abdullah Ⅱ Stadium in Amman on Monday 17 October.

Japan are the top-scoring of the 16 participating teams with 16 goals, while Spain took 97 shots in the last four games. Both teams were keen on attacking and played competitively from the beginning of the match.

Japan passed the ball around, waiting for an opportunity to initiate an attack, whereas Spain applied pressure up front. Japan created a goal-scoring opportunity first. In the 12th minute, CHIBA Remina, who ran towards a through ball from NAGANO Fuka, faced the goalkeeper one-on-one. Although CHIBA’s shot was saved superbly by the opponent’s goalkeeper, Japan soon changed the game with a smooth combination. After 14 minutes, TOMITA Miyu overtook ENDO Jun in the left to receive the ball and sent it towards the goal. TAKAHASHI Hana slid onto the ball and got the opener.

However, Spain attacked back fiercely. In the 19th minute, although Claudia PINA ran up to a through ball to fire a shot, the goalkeeper TANAKA Momoko managed to defend it. Japan struggled against a wave of Spanish attacks in the 33rd minute with decisive shots from Eva NAVARRO and PINA. The goalkeeper TANAKA once again performed excellently to keep a clean sheet. The game went into the second half at 1-0.

After the coach KUSUNOSE encouraged the players during halftime: ‘don’t just sustain the lead. Let’s play with more courage!’, Japan started to attack from the beginning of the second half.

After 48 minutes, Japan passed the ball around rhythmically up front and the ball was passed from NAGANO to TOMITA, who ran up on the right side. A strong cross from TOMITA, which went between the opponent’s goalkeeper and defenders, led to a Spanish own goal. Japan had succeeded in getting that precious extra goal.

Japan came under pressure from an attacking Spain team that felt cornered. In the 55th minute, Candela ANDUJAR faced the goalkeeper one-on-one, but TANAKA defended the shot. Then after 66 minutes, the Japanese defenders calmly reacted to an opponent’s header from a set piece, preventing Spain from finding any opportunity to attack.

Japan maintained their two-goal lead. In the 76th minute, TAKAHASHI was taken down by the opponent and earned a penalty kick. She fired a strong shot from the spot herself and scored, building a three-goal lead. Japan continued to attack until the final whistle, including with NAGANO’s shot from a free kick. Japan succeeded in reaching their second consecutive final after the one in Costa Rica in 2014.

Match Details

The team will meet the U-17 DPR Korea for the final in Amman on Friday 21 October, while U-17 Venezuela will play the third-place play-off against U-17 Spain.

Coaches' and Players' Comments

KUSUNOSE Naoki, Coach
We kept a clean sheet against a strong Spain team and won the game. Having said that, I believe there is still room for improvement. The level of our players is improving through each game. The players’ strong passion for this championship meant that they stayed focused at the beginning of the game and scored the opener. We’d like to play for every team, whom we met through this championship, including Spain, to win the title.

GK #1  TANAKA Momoko (NIPPON TV MENINA)
Keeping a clean sheet just like we did in the quarterfinal meant a lot to us. Spain was very strong, and they created a lot of goal-scoring opportunities. As we stayed focused on defending as a united team, I believed we could win the match. When I unfortunately concede a goal in the game against the USA, I dived before the opponent took a shot. So I learned from that experience, and decided to ‘play patiently’ in today’s match. Thanks to the staff that record our plays in every game, I can find out what I’ve done well and what needs work. I can perform better in each match.

DF #19  TOMITA Miyu (Okayama Sakuyo High School)
When I struck the opener, I believed that ENDO would pass the ball if I overlapped her. Then I passed the ball to TAKAHASHI in front of the goal. In terms of the pass, which led to the second goal, I believed in NAGANO and just continued to run. As my strength is to cut in without hesitation, I ran even for a long distance, believing that my teammates will pass the ball. I’d like to overlap aggressively in the final, so that I can contribute to score sheet.

FW #11  TAKAHASHI Hana (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth)
I’m truly honoured that I was chosen as PLAYER OF THE MATCH. Thank you. I’m grateful to my teammates, since I wouldn’t have won this award without them. Spain was a strong opponent with high technical ability. Despite the fact that we suffered numerous difficulties from the first half, our defenders led the team defence solidly and we managed to win the game. We will play against Korea DPR, to whom we lost in the AFC U-16 Women's Championship China 2015. So I’m determined to win this time in order to achieve our aim – to earn the title.

Maria IS, Coach (U-17 Spain Women's National Team)
The players performed well against the previous champions Japan. I’m satisfied with the team’s performance, and we are proud of ourselves. There were superb saves by Japanese goalkeepers, but we cannot win the game if we can’t score from our opportunities. I’d say we were a little unlucky. I expect a tough third-place play-off against Venezuela. If we manage to get the bronze medal, that will be reward for our efforts.

Schedule

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