Ahead of the FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019 scheduled to kick-off on Friday 7 June, the Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women’s National Team) has been holding a training camp in Chiba Prefecture since Wednesday 22 May.

With the team starting their full-on trainings from the day before, the team welcomed the players of Waseda University Association Football Club to conduct a joint training session on Saturday 25.

To simulate the speed and power exerted by the world’s powerhouses, the Nadeshiko Japan has conducted training sessions with men’s teams in the past. On this day, the team spent most of their time going over defensive drills against the men’s university players. The players were seen defending one-on-one situations in the flanks, responding against crosses delivered from the sides, and checking the organisation of their defensive line when the opponent players switched the side with a long ball. The speed and power showcased by the men’s university players gave the Nadeshiko Japan the opportunity to go over their plans when their defensive block was exploited. The session was carried out with great intensity and the players were seen with serious faces when discussing their strategies on the pitch.

Following the training session, Coach MORIYASU Hajime of the SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) made an appearance to surprise the players. The words of Coach Moriyasu, who attended last year’s FIFA World Cup in Russia as an assistant coach, gave great joy and courage to the players.

Also, on this day, the team attended an event hosted by the Japan National Team Supporting Company, Asahi Shimbun. A special supporting event called "Nadeshiko no Chikara" was held at Futako Tamagawa in the afternoon, to send off the players to France. Coach TAKAKURA Asako and 21 players attended the event which attracted over 1,500 people at a weekend shopping mall. The team then made their ways to the Japan Football Museum to view the special exhibit of the Nadeshiko Japan, where many people also cheered on the team.

The Nadeshiko Japan will continue to hold their training camp in Japan until Sunday 26.

Comment

MORIYASU Hajime, Coach of SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team)
When I heard that the Nadeshiko Japan was training for the World Cup I wanted to stop by and give them some words of encouragement, but it turned out that I was the one who got inspired by them. They were training with great intensity and the team was communicating very well with their eyes all set on the same goal. It was something we need to learn from, and it gave me great inspiration. The training session was conducted with a clear vision and the session was held under a tense atmosphere. Becoming the world champion is not an easy task. The men’s team is also striving to win the world title, so we must learn from the women’s team to achieve our goal. I am sure that they are giving their utmost efforts every day, so I hope they can prepare themselves in the best way possible to leave no regrets at the tournament. The team may be under an enormous amount of pressure and face difficult matches, but I don’t want them to forget to have fun and I am wishing the best for the Nadeshiko Japan.

Players' Comments

DF #12 MINAMI Moeka (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies)
We conducted our training session with the intention to maintain the distance between our defence line. It’s important to deny our opponents from sending crosses, but when the ball is delivered to the centre, the distance between the defenders and the midfielders, our positionings, and how we prepare ourselves will play a key role in keeping a clean sheet. It was great that we were able to train with this kind of intensity before leaving for France. The words of Coach Moriyasu were all so meaningful. The men’s team will be playing their matches soon too, so we hope to fight together and earn positive results. We will continue to train with the men’s university team tomorrow, so we will enter the session with a good amount of tension.

DF #22 SHIMIZU Risa (Nippon TV Beleza)
Although we are striving to keep our defence line compact, as a fullback, there will be occasions where I must take on the opponent one-on-one in the flanks, and I must be able to win those duels for the team. The raw speed and power exerted by the university players gave us a great opportunity to simulate the matches against the foreign teams. In order for me to contribute for the team, I must be able to win the ball against these university players. The words of Coach Moriyasu gave me the motivation to work even harder.

DF #23 MIYAKE Shiori (INAC Kobe Leonessa)
During today’s training session, we all focused on communicating with each other to keep ourselves on the same page. When playing against foreign teams, there will be situations where it’s hard to win the one-on-one duels, so in those situations, we must slide our defence line and take a collective approach to force the turnovers. This is the only time we can make mistakes, so we must play with no hesitation when we train with the university players again tomorrow. I was very surprised when Coach Moriyasu paid a visit. His words really made me realise that I am representing our country.

Schedule

Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women’s National Team) Squad, Schedule

FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019

Tournament Dates: Fri. 7 June - Sun. 7 July 2019

Group Stage:
Tue. 11 June 2019 01:00 (Japan time)
vs Argentina Women's National Team

Fri. 14 June 2019 22:00 (Japan time)
vs Scotland Women's National Team

Thu. 20 June 2019 04:00 (Japan time)
vs England Women's National Team

Tournament Information