On Saturday 22 June, the Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women's National Team) held a training session ahead of their match against the Netherlands Women’s National Team at the FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019.

The training session was closed to the media except for the first 15 minutes. The players were seen going through their warmup routine, followed by possession drills to work up a sweat. During the 90-minute session, the team went through drills to polish up their football ahead of their match at the round of 16.

The team held a meeting after dinner to go through their tactics against Netherlands. The players viewed the films provided by their technical staffs to go over the reports on their next opponent.

The Netherlands Women’s National Team is ranked eighth in the FIFA rankings (as of 29 March 2019). After appearing in their first FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015, the team was crowned as champions at the UEFA Women's Championship in 2017. Despite finishing second in their group at the final round of the European qualifiers, the team earned their spot into the World Cup through the playoffs. They have won all three matches at the group stage, defeating New Zealand, Cameroon, and Canada to advance through to the knockout stage as the group leader.

The round of 16 match between the Nadeshiko Japan and the Netherlands Women’s National Team will take place on Tuesday 25 June at 21:00 local time (Wednesday 26 June at 4:00 Japan time).

Players’ comments

DF #22 SHIMIZU Risa (Nippon TV Beleza)
It is important that we make no mistakes in front of our goal when we face the Netherlands. We watched the films of our matches and discussed what we need to do to improve ourselves. The defenders are now more aware of how our attackers are going to apply pressure upfront, so we are now functioning much better as a team. Although it would be ideal if we can single-handedly force turnovers, we’ll have to communicate well with our peers to create a numerical advantage when defending against the Netherlands.

MF #6  SUGITA Hina (INAC Kobe Leonessa)
Although we managed to create some close opportunities in the second half against England, we lacked quality in our plays at the final third. The Netherlands is capable of creating strong attacks from the flanks, so we must contain them from showing their strong points while we increase the number of our attacks. We cannot afford to lose from here on, so we will focus on keeping a clean sheet. As a defensive midfielder, I will enter the match with the intention to keep my priority in defence.

FW #8  IWABUCHI Mana (INAC Kobe Leonessa)
I am getting the impression that the Netherlands is capable of attacking with more intensity than England, so we must focus on not turning over the ball too easily. Although we managed to create many opportunities towards the end of the second half, it was our responsibility as forwards that we were kept scoreless in the match against England. (Regarding her former teammate Vivianne MIEDEMA) She is a great striker who has great foot skills and also strong in the air. She is a great teammate, and a player you wouldn’t want to see as an opponent. I don’t know how many chances we can create against the Netherlands, but I will focus on converting them when the moment comes.

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

Knockout Stage Round of 16:
Wed. 26 June 2019 04:00 (Japan Time)

vs Netherlands Women's National Team

Tournament Information