The 3rd Delle Nazioni Tournament 3rd Match vs U-17 Norway Women's National Team
Sat. 28 April 18:00 kick-off Playing Time 70min. (35min.x2)
Marano, Italy

U-16 Japan Women's National Team 2-1 (1-1, 1-0) U-17 Norway Women's National Team

Scores
15' Goal against (U-17 Norway Women's National Team)
31' SHIROWA Reina (U-16 Japan Women's National Team)
62' ONISHI Wakana (U-16 Japan Women's National Team)

Starting Line-ups
GK: NAKAZONO Karen
DF: TAMAGAWA Mina, KAWAGISHI Emika, TABATA Haruna, SUGISAWA Mihoshi
MF: TAKAWA Serika, IWASAKI Kokona, TSUKIJI Iku, ITO Megumi, NODA Miyuu
FW: SHIROWA Reina

Reserves
GK: ISHIDA Kokona
DF: TOKUNAGA Miyabi
MF: WATANABE Urara, ONISHI Wakana, IDO Keito
FW: MOMONO Miyuka, YAMASAKI Aimi, SHIMADA Mei

Substitutions
47' NODA Miyuu → YAMASAKI Aimi
53' TAKAWA Serika → WATANABE Urara
53' TSUKIJI Iku → ONISHI Wakana
58' TAMAGAWA Mina → SHIMADA Mei

Match Report

U-16 Japan Women’s National Team sat in second place after the completion of two group league matches, and squared off with the group leaders, U-17 Norway Women’s National Team, in their third and final match in the group stage.

Despite their shaky start, Japan took the initiative of the match.

In the sixth minute, Japanese midfielder ITO Megumi picked up a loose ball in the opposing territory. She delivered a through ball to forward SHIROWA Reina who then took a shot, but could not score the opening goal. Two minutes later, Shirowa forced a turnover and dished the ball to TAKAWA Serika in the left flank. Takawa went onto fire a shot but her effort went over the cross bar. Japan kept creating opportunities, but incurred the opening goal in the 15th minute when the Norwegian side captured the goal off a corner kick.

A minute later, Japanese striker NODA Miyuu received the ball from a throw-in and found Shirowa in the centre, who then laid the ball to allow Ito to take a shot from distance but her attempt came short from levelling the match.

In the 31st minute, Japan’s IWASAKI Kokona carried the ball in the centre before sending a through ball towards Shirowa at top, who calmly converted this opportunity to give Japan the equaliser. The match went into half time tied at one apiece.

Six minutes into the second half, with the scores still tied at 1-1, Japan earned a free kick in the opposing half. Defender TSUKIJI Iku was able to get to the cleared ball and launched a shot, but the Norwegian goalkeeper was there to save the shot.

The Japanese side who kept on attacking, found another opportunity in the 58th minute when defender TABATA Haruna sent a through ball to YAMASAKI Aimi, who ran into the space behind the opposing defence. Yamasaki went onto taking a shot, but her shot was saved by the goalkeeper. However, in the 62nd minute midfielder ONISHI Wakana scored the go-ahead goal, when she converted a loose ball following a shot attempt from Ito. This goal turned out to be the decider and the game ended with a final score of 2-1.

With this win, Japan topped group B, and will now face the winner of group A, U-16 USA Women’s National Team at the final on Sunday 29 April.

Players' Comments

DF #4 TABATA Haruna (Cerezo Osaka Sakai Academy)

Today we were put into a must win situation, and I entered the match with a strong intent to contribute for the team. It was my third time facing a foreign team so I was already used to their speed and power, but we conceded the opening goal and couldn’t find our rhythm. The team did well to communicate and come from behind to grab the win. The fact we were able to win the match is a big accomplishment, but we still need to improve on many aspects. We must now convert the positives into confidence while acknowledging what we still need to improve. We will fight as a team to beat USA in the final.。

MF #11 ONISHI Wakana (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies Youth)
I am happy of the fact we were able to win against Norway, and advanced to play USA in the final. But as we place ourselves in higher competitions, we face stronger and faster teams. Our key to success is our quick decision makings as well as our quality of techniques. We must work together as a team and keep our patients against foreign teams. We still tend to make mistakes under pressure, so we must improve ourselves in that aspect. We must realise how costly a mistake can be for the team. We also must keep in mind how to reduce turnovers and to initiate attacks from our defence. I would like to win against USA tomorrow and take home the trophy with a smile.

FW #16 SHIROWA Reina (JFA Academy Fukushima)
Today we faced a must win situation and I was looking forward for this match. We struggled to play our game early on, but we kept talking to each other and fought through as a team. I am glad I was able to contribute to my team by scoring a goal. But there were more chances I missed, so I’d like to convert those chances in our match against USA. We still have long ways to go as a team, but we will keep communicating and play our football in the final to take the championship trophy back to Japan.

Schedule

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

The 3rd Delle Nazioni Tournament

Tournament dates: Wed. 25 April - Sun. 29 April 2018
Tournament information