The second round matches of the 38th Empress’s Cup will take place in several venues on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 October. From this round, ten seeded teams from the top division of the Nadeshiko League (Japan Women’s Professional League) are entering the competition. We are expected to see highly-contested quality matches this weekend.

Last year’s champions INAC Kobe (Nadeshiko League Division 1/ Hyogo) will kick off their Empress’s Cup with the match against Daisho Gakuen High School (Kansai/ Osaka). MORIYA Miyabi and SUGITA Hina, who are also the participating squad members of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Papua New Guinea 2016, are seeking to gain momentum by winning the game prior to joining the U-20 Japan Women’s National Team.

On the other hand, Daisho Gakuen High School qualified for this competition for the second time since 2014. This is also their second occassion to play in the second round. We cannot wait to see how they compete against the stronger opponents with their solid defence. One of the keys will be how they start the match.

Nippon TV Beleza (Nadeshiko League Division 1/ Tokyo), who became the back-to-back winner for the Nadeshiko League claiming the title for the fourteenth time, will face Clubfields Linda (Hokkaido). Nippon TV have won the Empress’s Cup eleven times before and have been one of the consistent teams with quality players everywhere on the pitch, including goalkeeper YAMASHITA Ayaka and forward TANAKA Mina. This September they also triumphed the Division 1 League Cup, by sweeping 4-0 in both semifinal and final matches. They are now targeting at their third crown of this season, adding to their league and cup titles.

Clubfields Linda have won their first round match for the first time since they changed the team’s name from Sapporo Linda. As their player OKINO Ruseri says ‘we have just played our best game ever’, they have the capability of performing brilliantly and attaining good results. Having played their ‘match of the season’, both their confidence and motivation level should be booming. The real question is how well they can compete against the better side, powerhouse Nippon TV.

Setagaya FC (Tokyo) and CEREZO OSAKA SAKAI Ladies (Osaka), two teams from the Division 2 of the Nadeshiko League, will face each other in the second round. They have met twice in this season’s league matches, and both of them ended up in a 1-1 tie. Sfida Setagaya have played in the Empress’s Cup three times before, and each time they got eliminated in the second round. They are now aiming to advance to the third round for the first time.

On the other hand, CEREZO OSAKA SAKAI Ladies have posted their first-ever win in the Empress’s Cup by winning the first round match. Their core players competed in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Jordan 2016. Those include four members of the runner-up Japan National Team including TAKARADA Saori and cup-winner DPR. Korea player RI Song A. Getting back in top condition having competed the recent World Cup will be a crucial factor in this game. It will be interesting to see how these players have improved having experienced the world competition.

After the second round, the Empress Cup will enter the Round of 16 and the competing teams will get a step closer to the cup title. We cannot wait to see who will be advancing to the next round by winning the important weekend matches.

Second Round Fixtures (10/29)

Second Round Fixtures (10/30)

Fixtures and Results (Japanese version only)

38th Empress's Cup All Japan Women's Football Tournament

2016-10-22(Sat.)～2016-12-25(Sun.)

Tournament Information
Four selected matches on 10/29 and 10/30 can be viewed on JFA-TV (Japanese Version Only)