On Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 April, the short-listed squad of the Japan Women's Universiade National Team played a training match against Hiryu High School men's football team (30mins x4 in both days).

With the opponents having the physical advantage over them, the team concede early in the first match, as they gave up the opening goal in the second minute. The team started to get used to the pace of the match but struggled to connect their passes and subsequently conceded two more goals from their own mistakes in the 14th and 15th minute. With the fine saves made by their goalkeeper, the women’s Universiade side showcased an equally matched bout, but lacked quality in the plays at the final third, as they finished the first two quarters scoreless.
During halftime, Coach MOCHIZUKI Satoru told his players to make better decisions and to keep a good distance between each other. The players made the adjustments in the second half, taking a more aggressive approach to create shooting opportunities, but their efforts fell short from capturing the net, as they were kept scoreless in their first training match.

On the second day, the team entered the match with the intension to utilise the experience gained in the first day, but once again conceded early in the match. Following the goal, the team showed great persistency in defence, while forcing turnovers in the attacking third to create chances but didn’t have the quality to finish off their opportunities. Once picking up their pace in offence, the women’s Universiade side started to exploit the space behind the opponent’s defence line. In the 27th minute of the third quarter, defender KUDO Mako (Keio University) broke through the left flank before sending a cross towards the centre, where CHIBA Remina (University of Tsukuba) converted the delivery to score their first goal. The team continued to display great defence and collective build-up plays to carry the ball upfront but fell short to score further goals. Despite losing the match, the team showed what they are capable against an opponent with greater speed and power.

The short-listed squad of the Japan Women's Universiade National Team will continue on with their training camp until the morning of Thursday 18.

Players’ Comments

DF NAKAJO Yui (Waseda University)
The match was played to simulate the matches against foreign teams, and there were many occasions where we couldn’t cope with the opponents’ speed. The opponents were capable of switching the point of attack with one-step, and those were some of the aspects we don’t usually see. We will train ourselves so that we can become able to respond and make the correct decisions against any opponents. We still have one more day left in this training camp, so I will give my very best.

DF KUBO Mariko (Toyo University)
With this match scheduled to get ourselves prepared to face the world’s top-class teams, we struggled to cope with the opponents’ speed and power, which led to us conceding goals in the early minutes. During halftime, Coach Mochizuki told us to make better predictions and keep a good distance between each other. Once we managed to play with those aspects in mind, we were able to force more turnovers and create opportunities in offence. These matches allowed us to realise our tasks ahead of the tournament, so it was a great experience for us.

MF CHIBA Remina (University of Tsukuba)
By facing a team with great speed and power, we were able to find out what we need to work on. In order for us to cope with the world, we need to think of ways to improve ourselves. In order to make the final roster, I will give my utmost efforts to showcase my colour while making plays to allow my peers to display their best performance in the final day of this training camp.

Schedule

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

Future Schedules