Ahead of the inaugural AFC Women's Club Championship 2019, last year’s Nadeshiko League champions Nippon TV Beleza arrived in Yongin, Korea Republic on Sunday 24 November.

After holding a training session on Monday 25, the team faced the Chinese Women's Super League champions Jiangsu Suning Ladies FC on Tuesday 26. Beleza entered the match with great rhythm where they took control of the ball possession through quick ball movements. Jiangsu Suning on the other hand, showcased great discipline to defend against Beleza, as they kept their marks tight.

Despite taking the initiative of the match, it was Beleza who conceded the first goal, as Jiangsu Suning scored the opener in the seventh minute through a counterattack.

However, Beleza managed to equalise the match in the 10th minute, when KOBAYASHI Rikako broke through the right side before sending the final pass towards the goal. It was TANAKA Mina who responded to this delivery, as the striker calmly controlled the ball and slotted the ball into the left hand corner.

In the 36th minute, SHIMIZU Risa initiated an attack for Beleza, where the ball was connected through Tanaka, HASEGAWA Yui, and ENDO Jun, before finding MOMIKI Yuka, who struck a shot from distance. Momiki also came close to scoring the go-ahead goal during additional time of the first half, when she struck a powerful shot that shook the cross bar.

During halftime, coach NAGATA Masato gave out detailed directions to make the adjustments against the opponent’s counterattacks and to effectively utilise the team’s attacking threats.

The second half saw Beleza showing more aggression than the first half. Their biggest opportunity came in the 76th minute, when UEKI Riko dribbled through two defenders to break into the penalty box and faced the goalkeeper one on one, but her shot was saved by a spectacular effort made by the opposing goalkeeper.

Despite making their final efforts in the closing minutes, Beleza fell short from converting their chances to end up drawing the match 1-1.

Nippon TV Beleza will now face Hyundai Steel Red Angels (Korea Republic) on Thursday 28 November.

Coach and Players' Comments

NAGATA Masato, Coach (Nippon TV Beleza)
With our opponent showcasing great athleticism, it was a very tough match. We especially struggled against the spectacular plays made by their #11 and #6. We tried to limit the passing route to those two players, but we still allowed #11 to break away from counterattacks, so that is an area we must improve on. The players did well to adapt to that speed and make the adjustments on the pitch.

GK YAMASHITA Ayaka (Nippon TV Beleza)
With limited information on our opponents and with the tight match schedule, this is the toughest tournament of the season. I feel like this was a match we had to win, but we allowed our opponent’s forward to break away and score the opening goal, which put us in a difficult spot. However, we did manage to keep high ball possession, so we hope to continue on that trend and try to score goals from our ball possessions.

FW TANAKA Mina (Nippon TV Beleza)
Even prior to the match, we knew that this match was not going to be easy, but it went way over our expectations. We are usually capable of shaking off our marks in Japan, but we struggled dearly against foreign players. Despite our struggles, we still managed to create chances, so we just have to become more critical at the final third. Although I was able to score a goal, I was also involved in the play where we conceded the opening goal, so I really wanted to redeem myself by scoring the game winner.

AFC Women's Club Championship 2019 - FIFA/AFC Pilot Tournament

Tournament Dates: Tue. 26 - Sat. 30 November 2019
Tournament Venue: Yongin Citizen Sports Park

Tournament Information