The International U-23 Women’s Tournament La Manga
Thu. 26 February 2015 Kick off 18:00 Match times 45min×2
Pitch A　(Spain/La Manga)

U.S. U-23 Women’s National Team 1-0（1st 0-0, 2nd 1-0）U-23 Japan Women’s National Team 

Scores
54min　Goal Against（U.S. U-23 Women’s National Team）

Starters
GK：YAMASHITA Ayaka
DF：SAITO Natsumi、MIYAKE Shiori、MURAMATSU Tomoko、NAKAMURA Yushika
MF：TAKAGI Hikari、SUGITA Ami、SHIBATA Hanae、MASUYA Rika、KYOKAWA Mai
FW：TANAKA Mina

Substitutes
GK：TAKENAKA Rei
DF：TANAKA Mariko
MF：KATO Chika、INOUE Ayaka、IRIE Miki
FW：HAMADA Haruka、SHIRAKI Akari

HT 　　 MASUYA Rika → IRIE Miki
62min　TANAKA Mina → HAMADA Haruka
79min　TAKAGI Hikari → INOUE Ayaka

Match Report

Japan National Women’s U-23 Team entered their third day of the Spain trip. As the tournament finally began, Japan had their opening match against the United States. In the meeting before the match, head coach Takakura said to the players “I want you to always work smart thinking about the next play. Give all you can for every single match and make yourself feel ‘I've done everything I could’ at the end of the tournament. No one knows what’s going to happen on the pitch. I want you to become a strong-minded player who can solve every situation by herself.”

The U.S. got the match off. In the 6th minute, Masuya Rika responded to Muramatsu Tomoko’s floated pass but failed to get hold of it. Japan was striving to get an opening goal but lost the ball in their midfield several times because of the opposing intense pressure. In the 40th minute, after Shibata Hanae dribbled into the middle, Masuya fired Shibata’s pass, but her shot was denied by the opposing goalkeeper. The first half ended scoreless at 0-0.

In the 54th minute after the break, the U.S. player dribbled in from a corner kick and put it into the back of the net to give her side an opener. Japan replaced Tanaka Minami with Hamada Haruka in the 62nd minute. Then, a minute later, Masuya headed a cross from Hamada, who rushed up on the right flank, but it went just inches off the left post. In the 80th minute, Kyokawa Mai shifted to a striker position composing two forwards to go on aggressive attacks. Japan, however, were not able to level the score and ended the match at 0-1.

Comments

Takakura Asako, Head Coach
We weren’t able to cope with the U.S. speed and physical intensity and repeatedly made mistakes until the end. Unless each player improves individual skills and decision-making, she won’t step up to a higher level. Through this experience, I want them to think about what they lack, get tense on each play from tomorrow’s practice and perform to get to a higher level.

SUGITA Ami（Iga Football Club Kunoichi）
I wanted to get back at the U.S. because we lost to them in this tournament last year. But we lost again as a result and there’s nothing but disappointment left. From the early first half, we’ve got lots of situations where we crowded out to win the ball in collective efforts with up front pressing. But in the second half, the collectivity was totally gone. Distances between players opened up and we lost the initiative in every situation. In offence, we missed lots of passes, attacked with no variation and failed to get creative. And we weren’t able to send an opposing defender the wrong way. During a difficult period, we need game-changing ideas, and to do that, we’ve got to have superior abilities like hard-running and passing accuracy. At the same time, we need to work out keeping fundamentals in mind. With this result in mind, we will adjust the team for the next match.

KYOKAWA Mai（INAC Kobe Leonessa）
We weren’t able to break through the U.S. left side. I couldn’t have a shared picture of plays with players close to me, and my passes went a bit wrong way. When receiving passes, the timing didn’t meet in many situations. I will try to create passing options for my teammates and get moving right after passing. Having more communications, we will break through opponents with good combination, which is Japan’s strength.

Schedule

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