On Wednesday 30 November, the following day of the semi-final of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Papua New Guinea 2016 against France, the U-20 Japan Women's National Team held a practice session. The players who started the match against France stayed at the hotel to focus on recovery, while the rest of the players went onto a ground. The players started with playing football-volleyball, followed by practicing possession in a four-on-four with free players and taking shots. The team played a four-goal five-a-side game with goalkeepers to finish their one-and-a-half-hour practice session. Since their time playing together as a team is nearly over, coach TAKAKURA Asako told the players: ‘in the next game against the USA, I’d like you to show me something that leads you to Nadeshiko Japan.'

The U-20 Japan Women's National Team will play the third-place match against U-20 USA at 16:00 (15:00 Japan Time) on Saturday 3 December.

Players' Comments

FW ＃9 NISHIDA Meika (CEREZO OSAKA SAKAI LADIES)
I was hoping to contribute to the score in yesterday’s game. However, I couldn’t display my playing style at all neither in attack nor defence before going back to the bench, which was really frustrating. Having said that, as we still have a chance to gain a medal, we cannot keep thinking negatively. We have only a few practice sessions left. Since we are playing for Japan, we cannot go home without a medal. We lost to the USA, when I joined the U-16 national team on the USA tour. So I’m determined to avenge that by playing as a united team.

FW ＃11 KAWANO Juri (Waseda University)
I couldn’t create a goal-scoring opportunity or even take a shot in yesterday match. I could have fired at least one shot. It really frustrated me. Our minds were strongly set on becoming the best in the world in this tournament. Although we failed to achieve our aim, we are determined to grab a medal and go back home. So we have refreshed ourselves for this new aim. We’d like to face the coming match as a united team.

Schedule

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