On Friday 31 August, the Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women's National Team) played in the final of the 18th Asian Games 2018 Jakarta Palembang with their second Asian Games title at stake.

Their opponent in the final was the China PR Women's National Team who they have beaten 3-1 at the semi-finals of the AFC Women's Asia Cup held in Jordan this April. However, as Coach TAKAKURA Asako described, “They have improved dramatically,” China PR has made a change in their head coach since their previous encounter. The rain that started to fall during the warmups stopped by kick-off time, and the climate saw a quick drop in temperature.

China PR kicked-off the match with a 4-3-3 formation where they applied aggressive pressure to force turnovers and sent long balls towards their forwards. Once the ball was sent upfront, they utilised the flanks effectively to deliver crosses towards the centre to take advantage of their height difference.

Japan employed a 4-2-3-1 formation with IWABUCHI Mana as the lone striker with HASEGAWA Yui positioned just beneath her.

With China PR applying aggressive pressure from the beginning of the match, Japan struggled to find ways to move the ball around in their pace. With their side having difficulties to bring the ball up, Iwabuchi was seen dropping back deep in their territory to help out the defence. China PR initiated many attacks from their left flank and although Japan managed to take the ball away, they struggled to evade the quick pressure applied to them, as they were seen passing the ball backwards many times during this stretch. Japan took their first shot at goal in the 30th minute, when Iwabuchi made an effort, but her shot couldn’t capture the target.

The Japanese goal was threatened numerous times by the Chinese offence where they utilised the flanks effectively, but with the efforts made by their centre halves, SAMESHIMA Aya and MIYAKE Shiori, Japan denied China PR from creating a major goal scoring opportunity. While the rain started to pour down again, the first half concluded without seeing Japan performing their usual style of football.

No changes were made by either sides, as Japan kicked-off the second half.

In the 53rd minute, a through ball was delivered into the space behind the high pressing defence line employed by the Japanese defence line, but Miyake responded well to save this threat. In efforts to change the momentum of the match, Japan brought in SUGASAWA Yuika for MOMIKI Yuka in the 56th minute, shifting their formation to their usual 4-4-2 system. China PR initiated a counter attack right after this substitution that threatened the Japanese goal, but the final shot lacked quality as Japan was left with a sigh of relief. Japan continued to be forced in the defensive end as another opportunity went towards China PR’s way.

However, the tide started to change after the 70th minute, as the players of the China PR started to slow down, seeing their defensive line dropping down. The match saw Japan anticipating for their opportunities by moving the ball around with their short passes, but it also gave opportunities for the China PR side to initiate counter attacks. A crucial moment was saved the Japanese goalkeeper YAMASHITA Ayaka, when she made a superb effort to parry the ball out of the frame. Consecutive corner kicks followed, but the Japanese defence line did well to keep the clean sheet intact.

In the 84th minute, NAKAJIMA Emi was seemingly fouled in the opposing penalty area, but the assistant referee flagged for offsides prior to the play. Two minutes later, a long feed delivered by Yamashita found Sugasawa who made a great run behind the China PR defenders. Despite the difficult stretch Japan had to incur, they kept their concentration high and anticipated for their opportunities.

In the closing minutes of the match, the long-awaited moment came for Japan in the 90th minute. Iwabuchi made a great turn to carry the ball upfront and passed the ball to Nakajima who made a well-timed run in the right flank. Nakajima then delivered an early cross towards the goal where Sugasawa timed herself perfectly to redirect the ball into the goal with her diving header.

Despite taking control of the match, China PR conceded the goal in the closing minutes of the match, showing great disappointment on the pitch. Their side had no more time nor energy to rally back, as the final whistle blew to signal the end of the match.

Match details

Nadeshiko Japan has won their second Asian Games title, since the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, while earning their second Asian title following their Asia Cup victory in April.

Coach and Players' Comments

TAKAKURA Asako, Coach of Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women's National Team)
We are honoured to face a great team like China PR at a wonderful tournament that decides the best team in Asia. Although China PR took control for the majority of the match, our players stayed patient and kept their composure to capture the few chances they were given. I believe that our players’ strong mentality was on display today. However, no one is satisfied with our overall performance. We will continue to work hard to improve our style of football.

GK #18 YAMASHITA Ayaka (Nippon TV Beleza)
It was a difficult match as our midfield was exploited by the opponents, but the four defenders did well to keep a clean sheet, while our forwards converted the few opportunities. We don’t necessarily have a strong offence and considering our performance against Korea DPR and Korea Republic, I was prepared to enter the penalty shootouts in this match. It would have been ideal if we could have constructed a better build-up from our defence line, but with the given pitch condition, we were forced to utilise the long balls. I personally saw more tasks than what I’ve gained through this tournament. There were scenes where my passes were intercepted so I must improve my ball control skills and I also have to give out better directions to allow my teammates to move more freely. These are some of the tasks I must work on. Even though we managed to win with this performance in Asia, we must improve ourselves so that we can heighten the overall level of our performance and prepare ourselves within the limited time frame ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

DF #3 SAMESHIMA Aya (INAC Kobe Leonessa)
It was a really tough match, so I am happy and relieved that we won the title. Including today’s final, our opponents had the upper hand in the overall performance in the match against Korea DPR and Korea Republic, so we must heighten the quality of our performance in the future. Although the fact that the China PR side ran out of gas in the second half contributed greatly, we entered today’s match with a strong intention to pass the ball around. We saw many scenes where we almost conceded a goal, but we kept on telling each other prior to the match and during halftime that we needed to keep on challenging ourselves to take something positive back from this tournament. And I think we managed to do just that, so we should take that as a positive. This was a very long tournament and we only had 18 players, but each one of us kept a strong intention that we are all in on this as a team. I believe that the strong individual will drove us forward and led us to this great result. In this tournament, we managed to fight through the tough stretches while keeping a clean sheet and that was one of the biggest reasons why we won the title. If we conceded the goal first instead, I don’t think we are strong enough to rally back at this moment. We will work hard to get stronger and obtain the ability to fight back.

FW #9 SUGASAWA Yuika (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies)
In the goal scene, (Nakajima) Emi delivered a great ball and I just throughout my body in hopes to score in any form possible. We have trained this pattern so once (Iwabuchi) Mana carried the ball I was already making my move towards the near side, so I am glad it went the way we practiced. When I was brought into the match, I was told to hold onto the ball upfront and score a goal, so I am happy that I managed to execute what I was asked for. While I was on the bench there weren’t many scenes where we utilised the space behind the opposing defenders to create opportunities, so I think I was able to fill in that gap well. Even though we have been quite successful in Asia, there are still many aspects we must improve on to do well at the world stage, so we hope to build up from here. Passing football is our style of football, and we were able to add multiple layers to our attacks in this tournament, so we hope to continue on that. Our overall performance still needs lots of improvements, but the fact we showed a collective effort in defence and our offence converted the few chances to win the match is something we can be proud of. We will continue to work hard to strive for higher goals.

Schedule

*Local Time, Japan time indicated within the parentheses
*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.

The 18th Asian Games 2018 Jakarta Palembang

Tournament Dates:Sat. 18 August - Sun. 2 September 2018

【Women's】Final
Fri. 31 August 20:30 [Japan time] vs China PR
Live broadcasting on NHK BS1

Tournament Information