On 12 November, four third-round matches of the 39th Empress's Cup All Japan Women's Football Tournament were played and all eight teams to compete in the quarter-finals were decided.

Pick-up Match 1

NITTAIDAI FIELDS YOKOHAMA (Nadeshiko Division2/Kanagawa) 2-3（2-1, 0-2）JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies(Nadeshiko Division1/Chiba)

The first match at EDION STADIUM HIROSHIMA was the meeting between Nadeshiko Division2 champions NITTAIDAI FIELDS YOKOHAMA (Nadeshiko Division2/Kanagawa) and JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies (Nadeshiko Division1/Chiba), who ended their season in 7th place of the Nadeshiko League Division1.

It was a tentative start to the game as both teams failed to take control and used long balls without clear intent to create early chances. High pressing was observed and they sent quick passes upfront once they regained possession. The game saw rapid switches from attacking to defending, but had no clear direction with neither side having the initiative of the match.

The deadlock was broken in the 21st minute when JEF United earned a corner and SAKURAMOTO Naoko fired a free header on the far side to give her side the opening goal of the match.

It did not take long for Nittaidai Fields to strike back and level the match. After 29 minutes, UEMURA Shoko collected the ball from the backline and struck at goal while holding off a strong challenge by the JEF defender. Her effort glanced off the shoulder of the opposing goalkeeper, FUNADA Mayu, and deflected into the net.

Nittaidai settled down after the equaliser and shifted their playing style to build-ups from connecting passes, and orchestrated an excellent chance in the 33rd minute. HIRATA Hikari surged up the right side and sent a cross to the middle, where ITO Kanako controlled it and squared to IMAI Yurina who scored the go-ahead goal from the far side to give Nittaidai the lead for the first time in the match.

JEF, on the other hand, geared up their attacks with FUKASAWA Risa and NARUMIYA Yui fashioning chances to threaten Nittaidai’s goal in the second half. Then in the 60th minute, Narumiya fired a shot, but goalkeeper FUKUTA Mai protected the goal by parrying away from danger with her right hand.

The relentless attacks from JEF continued in Nittaidai’s half and the team finally saw substitute CHINO Shoko equalise from a corner on 76 minutes. The deciding moment in the game came in the 87th minute, when Chino scored again after tapping in the loose ball and secured a 3-2 win in a highly contested match to put her team in the quarter-finals.

Match Report (Japanese version only)

Pick-up Match 2

Waseda University (Kanto/Tokyo) 1-1（0-1, 1-0 ext 0-0, 0-0、PK4-1）INAC KOBE LEONESSA(Nadeshiko Division1/Hyogo)

The second match saw the encounter between Waseda University (Kanto/Tokyo) and INAC KOBE LEONESSA (Nadeshiko Division1/Hyogo).

Waseda University looked for a major upset or a giant-killing and gained momentum with NAKAMURA Mizuki latching onto the long ball right after the game started and firing a shot from range to surprise the top-flight powerhouse by hitting the crossbar.

INAC Kobe, on the other hand, dominated possession and fashioned few early chances with excellent ball movements. In the 22nd minute, IWABUCHI Mana surged up the pitch before passing a ball to MASUYA Rika, who found fullback TAKASE Megumi on the overlap, and the Kobe defender made no mistake to net home an opening goal for her side.

INAC Kobe continued to attack and threaten the opponents' goal, but failed to score and extend their lead. Then in the 44th minute, Waseda’s Nakamura found the momentary gap in Kobe’s defence to tkae a long-range shot while she checked the positioning of the opposing goalkeeper, TAKENAKA Rei. Her effort did not materialise into game-tying goal, but the Waseda striker had shown her competitive spirit and strong determination to capitalise on the few chances that her team had in the first half.

Waseda finally levelled the match in the 57th minute. Nakamura intercepted the ball in the opposing end and dribbled up the pitch before she sent a neat ball to the front of the goal, where onrushing KAWANO Juri fired in a right-footer into the INAC’s net.

INAC Kobe were searching for their second to reclaim their advantage, but as SAMESHIMA Aya noted, ‘We were trying to break through their defence individually, and we did not find ways to score as a team,’ the Kobe club failed to penetrate through the tenacious Waseda defence. Both sides could not break the deadlock and the game went into extra time with a score of 1-1 after regulation.

INAC missed a golden chance right before the 1st half of extra time ended, when unmarked Iwabuchi fired a shot at goal, but could not hit the target. On the other hand, Waseda had players who were suffering from cramps and were forced to put all their efforts in defending against a wave of relentless attacks from their opponents. The university team still got through the remainder of the second half without conceding a goal and the match now had to be decided on penalties.

Waseda took the first penalty. While all their players converted from the spot, INAC’s first kicker NAKAJIMA Emi missed her attempt and second kicker KIYOKAWA Mai was denied by a fine save from goalkeeper KITSUKI Yui. Waseda won the penalty shootout 4-1 and advanced to the quarter finals of the tournament.

Match Report (Japanese version only)

Coaches' and Players' Comments

YANO Seinosuke, Coach (NITTAIDAI FIELDS YOKOHAMA)
I felt the great strength of our opponents especially from their set plays and side attacks. We also consider our offence as one of our strengths and I instructed my players that we would first concentrate on stabilising our defence and then would take advantage of our strength in attacks. We play a simple game at the beginning of the match, and as we take better control of the match, we start to add more ball movements while we protected the goal firmly. This is our playing style and we played very similarly in today’s game as well. I gained some confidence in our attacking plays that we have been working on all season long, but defending was another story, It will be difficult to compete effectively in the Nadeshiko League Division1 (where we will be promoted next year), if we cannot defend against the simple attacks coming straight into our penalty area.。

MIKAMI Shoko, Coach (JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies)
It was a difficult match but I’m glad that we won it at the end. We had enough time to regain the lead and our attacking players had a variety of ways that they can score. I just hoped they kept their composure to score the goals need to win the match. In the 1st half, we were slow in making transitions and did not show the strength on the ball as well. I instructed the players to make those adjustments before they got back on the pitch. Playing a high pressing game where we needed to reclaim possession upfront, my players did well to keep their concentration and make consistent runs to chase the ball. The Empress’s Cup is the place where we display what we have achieved during the regular season. We will try to show our best performance and win the next match as well.

NAKAMURA Mizuki (Waseda University)
I am over the moon that we beat a much higher-ranked team after all the efforts that we made together as a team. We enjoyed the match very much and it was an excellent experience for all of us. Concerning the assist I made, both the way I stole the ball and the timing of pass to (Kawano) Juri were good. INAC Kobe kept high possession and took control of the match, and we were forced to play differently from how we usually play with other university teams. However, I managed to play with composure and thought about what we can do as a team throughout the entire game. Last year, we were defeated by our next opponents, NOJIMA STELLA KANAGAWA SAGAMIHARA, and the coming quarter-final will be an ideal stage to avenge for that loss. We have a week to prepare, and will be reviewing our tactics and making any necessary changes. We will unite our team once more time and go all out for the next match as well.

TAKASE Megumi (INAC KOBE LEONESSA)
First, I must say I didn’t contribute enough to the team to secure a win. Even as an entire team, there were only few occasions where we showed the difference in the level of football between a Nadeshiko Division1 and a university team. We couldn’t achieve anything in the game that we failed to win it as well. I can’t even say that I am disappointed. We had few good attacking plays, but didn’t have stretches where we performed really well. I felt that we played so poorly that we deserved the loss as well. We were thinking that this match would give us a good opportunity to address some of the issues that we had during the regular season, such as the poor way we start the match, the scoring after we take the lead, and the attacking plays against the defence where the opposing team stayed back and played a low block. However, we just couldn’t solve any of these problems and must readdress them again next season. It is such a pity that this match had to be our last match of this season.

Tournament Period：28 October 2017(Sat.)～24 December 2017(Sun.)
First Round　Sat. 28 and Sun 29. October
Second Round Fri.3, Sat. 4 and Sun. 5 November
Third Round　Sat. 11 and Sun. 12 November
Quarter-finals　Sat. 18 and Sun. 19 November
Semi-finals　Thu. 21 December
Final　Sun. 24 December

Tournament Information