On Sunday 4 November, the final day of the JFA 15th Japan Women's Futsal Championship took place at Kanazawa, Ishikawa. The semi-finals took place in the morning, and the final was held in the afternoon. arco-iris Kobe (Kansai2/Hyogo) won the title for the fifth time after most recently winning it in 2016.

One of the semi-finals was played between VEEX Ishikawa Ladies (Host/Ishikawa) and arco-iris Kobe on Pitch-A. It was arco-iris Kobe who prompted the attacks in the early minutes. In the 5th minute, Kobe’s WAKABAYASHI Eri scored the opening goal. They continued to lead the match by applying aggressive pressure from their front line, as HIRAI Yuuka and EGUCHI Mika captured a goal apiece in the 8th minute to extend their lead to 3-0. With the commanding lead, arco-iris Kobe began to utilise the younger players who had limited playing time during this tournament. YAMAGUCHI Marina scored the team’s fourth goal in the 10th minute, before the match entered halftime. VEEX Ishikawa did manage to score back a goal in the 2nd half, but arco-iris Kobe would add two more goals to their tally to close out the 6-1 victory that secured the spot into their first final since 2016.

On Pitch-B, the other semi-finals match between SWH Ladies Futsal Club (Kansai1/Hyogo) and Fukui Maruoka RUCK (Hokushinetsu1/Fukui) took place. Although it was Fukui Maruoka RUCK who showed dominance in ball possession, it was SWH Ladies who scored the opening goal, as their captain SAKATA Mutsumi broke through the centre and scored the goal. Fukui Maruoka RUCK started to attack with more aggression after conceding the goal, however, they struggled to find ways to break through the SWH Ladies’ defence led by their goalkeeper YAMAMOTO Ayaka. With the match entering a deadlock, the single goal scored in this match ended up being the deciding goal, as SWH Ladies denied Fukui Maruoka RUCK’s ambition to win back-to-back titles.

As a result, two club teams from Kobe faced each other in the final, which was a rematch from the 2016 final. The match saw arco-iris Kobe taking the initiative to threaten the SWH Ladies’ goal. However, they struggled to find the net as their shots were being denied by the goal post and the superb saves made by the opposing goalkeeper Yamamoto. The match would enter halftime scoreless.

The second half saw arco-iris Kobe continue to attack with aggression. The long-awaited moment came for arco-iris Kobe in the 26th minute, when Watanabe drove the ball towards the goal which SAITO Yuri managed to redirect to capture the opening goal. With their back against the wall, SWH Ladies made efforts to level the match. With the clock winding down, SWH Ladies made their final attempts with their power-play but failed to score the equaliser. The match came to an end as arco-iris Kobe won their fifth title, their second in three years.

Coach and Players' Comments

KANBE Yohei, Coach (arco-iris Kobe)
We faced many matches from the first round where we struggled to score goals. But we kept on telling each other to stay patient. We were creating many opportunities, so we knew that if we heighten the quality of our plays, we would eventually be scoring goals. One of the biggest reasons we won the title is in our ability to fight hard at the individual level. Even though we faced some low scoring matches, we kept on fighting with aggression, which allowed us to showcase our style of football, so I think that help us capture the title.

SEKINADA Minako (arco-iris Kobe)
I don’t usually get emotional, but when I saw the two players (NISHIO Hitomi and FUJITA Yasuka) that are the same age as me crying, I starting to get teary as well. We all turn 30 this year, so this tournament meant a lot for us. We weren’t performing very well up until this tournament, so we were really worried. We couldn’t show our dominance throughout the tournament, but with the team welcoming a new coach ahead of the tournament, we really wanted to win the title for Coach Kanbe. We managed to showcase a collective effort in the final to capture the goal.

SAITO Yuri (arco-iris Kobe)
I am glad we managed to win the title. I am speechless of the fact that my goal was the deciding goal. It could’ve been my first time scoring the winning goal. It’s certainly something to remember. In that moment I scored the goal, Wakabayashi delivered a perfect ball, so I was just committed to converting the opportunity. Ahead of that goal, we saw many chances coming our way, so we kept on telling each other to keep on pressing forward. Everyone on this team was fighting, including the players on the pitch, the players on the bench, those who couldn’t make it here, staffs, and all the supporters. That is where our strengths come from.

SAKATA Mutsumi (SWH Ladies Futsal Club)
It feels like we couldn’t perform the way we wanted, not because how our opponents played, but because we didn’t give our very best, and that is what makes this so regretful. We have played against arco many times, and we knew how well they can perform at the individual level. I must say that they were just better than us. We were forced to spend so much time in defence, and we couldn’t showcase our style of futsal even when we had the ball. We really wanted to display a more entertaining match, but it ended up being one-sided. It made us realise that we need to improve ourselves more.

TAKAO Akari (Fukui Maruoka RUCK)
(SWH Ladies’ goalkeeper) Yamamoto was really good. It felt like there was no way we can score against her with an individual effort. We had to be more creative to find ways to score goals in a collective way. We tried making the efforts, but we couldn’t get enough layers to our attacks. Our opponents showed great transitions from offence to defence, and they managed to get back in defence faster than us carrying the ball upfront. We really wanted to score from a counter attack, but they didn’t allow us to do so. We really wanted to take down the title by winning against SWH Ladies and arco-iris Kobe, so this was a disappointing result for us.

Semi-Finals Highlights

Final Highlights

JFA 15th Japan Women's Futsal Championship

Tournament Dates: Fri. 2 - Sun. 4 November 2018
Tournament Venue: Ishikawa Sports Center, Ishikawa Prefecture
Tournament Information