On Saturday 18 November, the 39th Empress’s Cup All Japan Women’s Football Tournament saw two quarter-final matches being contested by four Nadeshiko League Division1 clubs at Tochigi Prefecture Green Stadium.

Pick-up Match 1

AC NAGANO PARCEIRO LADIES(Nadeshiko Division1/Nagano) 0-1（0-0, 0-0 ext. 0-1, 0-0）JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies(Nadeshiko Division1/Chiba)

In the first match, AC NAGANO PARCEIRO LADIES squared off against JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies.

JEF United took the early initiative with good ball movements by connecting short passes in midfield, while AC Parceiro attempted to create their chances by sending long balls to NAKANO Manami and TOMARI Shiho upfront. However, both sides failed to orchestrate effective attacks and fashion decisive goal-scoring opportunities. Around halfway into the first half, the Nagano club started to intensify the pressure on the ball and did not allow the Chiba side to find open players easily. The game stayed stagnant while both teams were forced to use long feeds, but with little intent and no end product.

In the second half, JEF United regained their momentum and kept better possession of the ball, but the tenacious Parceiro defence kept them away from their goal. The match ended scoreless in regulation and went into overtime.

The deadlock was broken in the first half of the extra time. In the 96th minute, JEF United brought on defender OHYA Madoka as a forward player, as her coach MIKAMI Shoko later explained about this substitution, ‘Ohya is strong in the air, and her presence upfront makes it easier for her teammates to send cross balls.’ Then two minutes later, Ohya met a right cross from KAMOGAWA Miho and her header was deflected into the net after hitting the crossbar. The opening goal also turned out to be the match winner and the Chiba club clinched the first semi-final berth in three years.

Match Report (Japanese report only)

Pick-up Match 2

NIPPON TV BELEZA(Nadeshiko Division1/Tokyo) 1-0（0-0, 1-0）ALBIREX NIIGATA LADIES(Nadeshiko Division1/Niigata)

The second match between NIPPON TV BELEZA and ALBIREX NIIGATA LADIES was a rematch of last year’s semi-final and became also a highly-contested game where only a single goal separated the two sides.

The winners of the three-consecutive Nadeshiko Division1 league titles, Nippon TV Beleza took control from very early in the match. While SAKAGUCHI Mizuho aimed a header off a right cross by TANAKA Mina in the 3rd minute, HASEGAWA Yui collected a ball after a neat exchange of passes to break through the Albirex defence on the left and fired a shot inside the penalty area on 21 minutes. Both attempts were denied by the fine saves from Niigata’s goalkeeper FUKUMURA Kanae, but Beleza threatened the opponents displaying their strength in attacks.

Meanwhile, Albirex looked for their own chances to score as they laid out their solid defence led by KAMIONOBE Megumi and NAKAMURA Kaede. In the 35th minute, SAKAGUCHI Moeno’s free-kick was met by SONODA Mizuki but her header just missed the target.

The deadlock still continued in the second half, and Beleza sent forward UEKI Riko onto the pitch to replace ARIYOSHI Saori who just came back from her injury. Then in the 70th minute, Ueki intercepted the ball in the opposing end and barged into the box, where Albirex defence had illegally taken down the Beleza striker and conceded a penalty kick. Ueki calmed netted from the spot to put her side ahead.

After grabbing a one-goal lead, Beleza’s captain IWASHIMIZU Azusa effectively controlled the team’s defensive line and did not give Albirex any room for comeback. Beleza held the Niigata club to only three attempts in total and defeated the opponents whom they lost in last year’s competition before they sealed a place in the semi-finals for the second consecutive year.

Match Report (Japanese report only)

Other quarterfinal fixtures

Yurtec Stadium Sendai
19 November (Sun.)11:00　NOJIMA STELLA KANAGAWA SAGAMIHARA(Nadeshiko Division1/Kanagawa) vs Waseda University(Kanto/Tokyo)
19 November (Sun.)14:00　URAWA RED DIAMONDS LADIES(Nadeshiko Division1/Saitama) vs MYNAVI VEGALTA SENDAI LADIES(Nadeshiko Division1/Miyagi)

Coach's and Players' Comments

HONDA Midori, Coach (AC NAGANO PARCEIRO LADIES)
We came in this match after all of our coaching staff and players thoroughly studied JEF United’s tactics utilising side attacks. It was a quarter-final and we were looking to keep a clean sheet with our objective being scoring just one more goal than the opponents rather than playing a good match. We expected the opponents to have better possession than us, and tried to hit them on the counter after reclaiming the ball. However, I saw the forward players and the wing backs losing possession several times. If we hadn’t made those errors and had taken the ball towards the opposing goal few more times, then the result might have been different. The Empress’s Cup is the most prestigious tournament and I am disappointed that we missed our chance to claim the title. We need to accept that this is where we currently stand, and build our team for the next season.

OHYA Madoka (JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies)
I was aiming at the small gap I saw when I scored with my header. I fell immediately after I made a contact with the ball and couldn’t see whether it went in or not. But my teammates came to me and I knew at the time that I scored. I was watching the match from the bench and saw several cross balls that were delivered into the middle, and thought that all we needed to do was to put them into the back of the net. I just said to myself that if I get a chance to play, I would trust my teammates and wait in the middle for those cross balls and focus myself on winning that ball. I might only have a single chance to score, but I certainly was determined to net one. The strength in aerial battles is needed regardless of whether I enter the game as a defender or a forward player. I simply focused on winning them to score today.

UEKI Riko (NIPPON TV BELEZA)
Our starters were really running hard before I got on to the pitch and I was going to focus my efforts on scoring. I am simply happy that I scored. We were moving the ball really well when we were advancing towards the opposing goal, and I was thinking that I would create a good scoring chance for the team once I received the ball. After we earned a penalty, we had a discussion as to who would kick the penalty and decided, ’whoever has the confidence to score would take it’. I was asked, ‘Riko, how about you?’ and responded, ‘sure, I’ll take it’. I was very nervous, but I tried to calm myself down and just kicked it as I normally do from the spot. I was pleased that I slotted into the opposite side of the diving goalkeeper. Nothing has changed that our tournament will end if we lose the next match. My top priority will be scoring goals, and if I get a chance to play, then I will give my best and help my team win.

NAKAMURA Kaede (Albirex Niigata Ladies)
We allowed the opponents to keep possession for the majority of time, but still could compete with patience. When we conceded the goal, the opponents broke through our defence and we were forced to react to their menacing moves, and unfortunately ended up giving a penalty to them. The first-half was scoreless and went just as we planned. We were trying to keep up our tenacious defending in the second half, and looked for gaps in the opposing defence to exploit and score goals. However, we just did not have many occasions during the game where we actually threatened our opponents. I also felt that when we were faced with those tough situations, we needed to have better attacking options in breaking through the opposing defence by deepening our tactical understanding of the game.

Tournament Period：28 October 2017(Sat.)～24 December 2017(Sun.)
First Round　Sat. 28 and Sun 29. October
Second Round Fri.3, Sat. 4 and Sun. 5 November
Third Round　Sat. 11 and Sun. 12 November
Quarter-finals　Sat. 18 and Sun. 19 November
Semi-finals　Thu. 21 December
Final　Sun. 24 December

Tournament Information