On Wednesday 22 May, JFA Women's Committee Chairman SASAKI Norio and Head Coach IKEDA Futoshi held a press conference at JFA House to announce the 22-member squad of Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women's National Team) for the international friendlies against New Zealand Women's National Team in Spain.

The squad is mainly made up of members selected at the 2024 SheBelieves Cup in April, including SEIKE Kiko, TAKAHASHI Hana and ISHIKAWA Rion from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Urawa Reds Ladies, who won the WE League title for the second year in a row. Overseas players include KUMAGAI Saki (AS Roma) and MINAMI Moeka (AS Roma), who earned their 150th and 50th caps respectively for Nadeshiko Japan in April, as well as SHIMIZU Risa (West Ham United) and HASEGAWA Yui (Manchester City).

Takahashi and CHIBA Remina (Eintracht Frankfurt) returned to the national team for the first time since the final round of the Asian qualifiers for the Paris Olympics in February. Ikeda said of Takahashi: “She has recovered well from her injury, and I have seen her performances in the WE League. We know how good she is, so I thought this is the right time to call her up again," while also commenting on Chiba: “She is fulfilling her role well in her team in Germany. I believe that her ability to drive towards the goal will help us greatly.”

New Zealand, who hosted the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ last summer, have since won the Oceania Regional Qualifier for the Paris Olympics to book their place at the Games and are currently 28th in the FIFA Ranking (Japan are 7th). Nadeshiko Japan have won eight and drawn two of their previous encounters, scoring 23 goals and conceding eight. In their most recent meeting, Nadeshiko Japan defeated New Zealand 2-0 thanks to goals from MIYAZAWA Hinata (now with Manchester United) and UEKI Riko (now with West Ham United) in the MS&AD Cup 2022 at Nagano U Stadium (Nagano, Japan) on 9 October 2022.

This international friendly is Nadeshiko Japan's last activity before finalising their squad for the Paris Olympics, so there is a survival aspect to the players' bid to book their ticket to Paris. As the selection process enters its final stages, Ikeda said: “I want to try out different combinations and assess what each player brings to the table.”

Nadeshiko Japan will play their first friendly match against New Zealand on Friday 31 May, followed by the second match on Monday 3 June.

Comment of IKEDA Futoshi, Head Coach of Nadeshiko Japan

In preparation for the Paris Olympics, Nadeshiko Japan will travel to Spain to take on New Zealand. After this tour there is only the pre-Olympic camp in Japan, so this will be one of the few international friendlies we play before the Olympics. This will be a crucial tour not only for the team and the players, but also for the selection process, so we will make the most of the limited time we have to strengthen the team and make progress ahead of the Olympics.

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