Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women’s National team) had their opening match against Australia in Osaka on Monday 29 February at the Asian Qualifiers Final Round, Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Their Olympic qualifying campaign began with a 3-1 loss.

In their first matchup since the teams faced each other in the semi-final of last summer's FIFA Women's World Cup, where Japan claimed the runners-up, both sides sent the 10 same players who played at that time on the pitch. But this time, the outcome turned out differently.

Against Australia putting high pressure on Japan from the start and building up their game with crisp passes without long balls, Japan were slow in initial moves, which resulted in failing to win the ball and execute their game plan. Midfielder MIYAMA Aya looked back the moment, saying "we weren’t fully ready."

In the 25th minute, Japan blocked an opponent's shot at centre, but Australians picked up the loose ball, and midfielder Katrina GORRY sent a cross from the right flank. Then, the unmarked forward Lisa De VANNA headed it into the back of the net.

After that, Japan struggled to halt Gorry feeding the ball across midfield and moving around. The match went with the Australian pace, and even when winning the ball upfront, Japan failed to keep it.

Forward YOKOYAMA Kumi came off the bench for OHNO Shinobu in the 40th minute, but Japan got a tough break soon after that. Midfielder SAKAGUCHI Mizuho's cross-field pass from left to right hit the referee and rolled in front of De Vanna. The Australian side picked up the ball, and forward Michelle HEYMAN went by goalkeeper YAMANE Erina and put home at the end.

Japan, looking for the fourth straight and their fifth Olympic berth, scored in the added time of the first half. After midfielder KAWASUMI Nahomi ran up the right flank and passed the ball to defender ARIYOSHI Saori, Sakaguchi, who received it from Ariyoshi, threaded a pass into the area. Forward OGIMI Yuki reacted to the setup and net home to make it 1-2.

The Japanese side, desperate for a comeback, created a chance four minutes into second half when Sakaguchi controlled Ogimi's floated delivery with her chest and fired a right-footed shot, but Australian goalkeeper Lydia WILLIAMS saved the shot.

In the 58th minute, midfielder NAKAJIMA Emi ran up and unleashed a shot, and three minutes later Miyama threatened the opponents with a shot from the edge of the box, but again the shots were denied by Williams. Japan continued to have hard time picking up their pace.

The Australian side got the ball starting from a throw-in on the right flank in the 78th minute. Gorry, who went up the opposite side, met Emily Van-EGMOND's right cross with her header to give her side the third goal of the match. "She was totally unmarked," said defender KUMAGAI Saki after the match.

Japan attempted to rally back by shifting their style to an attacking mode when forward IWABUCHI Mana came on for defender SAMESHIMA Aya and midfielder KAWAMURA Yuri replaced Kawasumi in the 84th minute. Miyama stepped up to take a free kick earned on the right in the 88th minute and took another one in added time, but both shots were parried by the Australian goalkeeper before the final whistle was blown.

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In this round of the Asian qualification, six teams play a single round-robin competition and top two teams gain a ticket to the Olympics. In other two matches, while China grabbed a 2-0 win over Vietnam, who climbed up from the qualifying rounds, DPR Korea were held even to Korea Republic 1-1.

As a result, Australia stand in first place after clinching three points on the day 1, followed by China in second place. Korea Republic and DPR Korea equal on points in third place, followed by Japan in fifth and Vietnam in sixth.

The next contest will be held on Wednesday 2 March as Japan play against Korea Republic. Then, Japan take on China on Friday 4, Vietnam on Monday 7 and DPR Korea on Wednesday 9.

Coach and Players' Comments

SASAKI Norio, Coach
We were preparing for Australia's highly aggressive football, but their attitude to defend was stronger than ours. Against their powerful, on-and-off shifting play on both offence and defence, our playing accuracy was poor when we moved the ball and went up to attack. In the first half, our side midfielders weren't able to keep a high position and failed to halt opponents' build-up, and allowed them to pick up the rhythm. That's one thing we need to reflect on. We will go through the accuracy of what we've worked on so far one by one. We don't have to get down so we just refresh our mind and get ready for the next match with the mindset to win all the remaining four matches.

DF #4  KUMAGAI Saki (Olympique Lyonnais/France)
The opponent was totally unmarked when we allowed the goal. In the first half, three upfront players chased the ball and we weren't able to feed the ball up in the build-up stage as we wanted. Australia prepared such part well, and I think we failed to go up with confidence against their momentum and power. We need to review our way of communication and how to cope with cross balls.

FW #10  OGIMI Yuki (1. FFC Frankfurt/Germany)
I just tapped a loose ball into the net. In a tournament like this, a goalkeeper and defenders have some moments where they panic in the box, so I know I need to look for such a chance. We got a goal and almost created our momentum once, but we failed to enhance the flow of the game in our favour. That's where we stand right now. For the next match, we refresh our mind positively and go out for each match, narrowing down where to attack by adding some twist even on a single cross ball.

MF #6  SAKAGUCHI Mizuho (NIPPON TV BELEZA)
It's disappointing we lost today. If I had scored, the flow of the game would have changed, and I feel responsible for that. There was a bad luck when we conceded a goal after the ball hit the referee, but we could have done something when the ball was rolling. In the Korea Republic match, the win-loss result is everything, but not how we play.

Alen STAJCIC, Coach (Australia Women's National Team)
Beating the word-class opponents like Japan in an official tournament is historic. We prepared over the past three or four weeks to play this match against Japan, and we tried to play with confidence and disturb Japan's rhythm. We are more fit and energetic than we were at the World Cup, and played better today. I think we deserved to win.

Nadeshiko Channel (Japanese version only)

Schedule

*The schedule and venues are subject to change.

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