On Saturday 2 November, the Empress's Cup JFA 41st Japan Women's Football Championship kicked off its action, as two matches were played at Moka City Sports Park (Moka, Tochigi).

Pick-up Match1

Gunma FC White Star (Kanto/Gunma) 1-6 (0-4, 1-2) AS Harima Albion (Nadeshiko2/Hyogo)

The first match was played between the Gunma FC White Star and AS Harima Albion. With the Gunma side making their first ever Empress's Cup appearance, coach KANNARI Miki gave a comment with a wry smile, “It’s a bit unfortunate to face a team in the Nadeshiko League Division 2 in our very first match.”

The match started with AS Harima sending long balls to apply pressure against the tournament debutantes. The opening goal was scored in the sixth minute, when AS Harima’s KOIKE Kokoro struck a header into the net to start the goal spree. Two minutes later, SHINBORI Kanami scored the teams second goal, followed by CHIBA Sonoko’s header in the 14th minute. AS Harima’s fourth goal came in the 27th minute, when UCHIDA Misuzu dribbled up the field before finding the back of the net.

AS Harima continued to show their dominance in the second half, as KATSURAMA Fumina and NAKANO Rino added to their tally to make it 6-0. In efforts to score back a goal, Gunma FC pushed up their defence line and shifted their formation to a more offensive system, allowing TAKATSUKA Ayane and MIYASHITA Ayane creating close opportunities.

During additional time of the second half, Gunma’s SATO Ami scored a goal to breakup the clean sheet for AS Harima, as coach Kannari mentioned after the match, “That one goal makes a huge difference for our supporters. We feel like we were able to showcase our fighting spirit until the final whistle.”

Pick-up Match2

Tokiwagi Gakuen High School (Tohoku/Miyagi) 2-1 (0-1, 1-0, Ex: 0-0, 1-0) Toyo University (Kanto/Gunma)

The second fixture was played between Toyo University and Tokiwagi Gakuen High School.

The match saw Tokiwagi Gakuen taking the initiative through their high pressure in the early minutes, but Toyo University gradually picked up their pace as the match progressed. The opening goal was scored by Toyo University in the 34th minute, when the ball was passed through DEKIMURA Ami to USHIKUBO Rinko, before finding OSHIMA Ayaka at the left side, who scored with a right footed shot.

In efforts to level the match, Tokiwagi Gakuen applied more pressure to the ball. Their approach started to show its effectiveness in the second half, as the equaliser was scored in the 53rd minute, when KATO Mana responded to a cross delivered by OIKAWA Riko. With both sides showcasing persistent efforts in defence, the match entered overtime with a score of 1-1 at the end of regulation time.

The game winner came in the second half of overtime. The ball sent by NISHINO Akane was being overlooked by everybody on the field except for Tokiwagi Gakuen’s Oikawa, who chased the ball down to face the opposing goalkeeper one-on-one. Oikawa calmly converted this opportunity to score the game winning goal in the 106th minute, giving the high school side the victory.

After the match, Toyo University’s coach TODA Yugo reflected on the game winner, “If our players communicated with each other, we could have avoided that goal. However, there were lots to learn from the players of Tokiwagi Gakuen, as they continued to believe in their teammates and made runs until the very end to capitalise on that opportunity.”

Led by coach ABE Yoshiharu, Tokiwagi Gakuen will now face Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (Nadeshiko1) in the second round.

Coaches and Players’ Comments

SHINBORI Kanami (AS Harima Albion)
I started to see my name featuring the starting line-up towards the second half of the season, and I am starting to gain more confidence that I can help the team win by scoring goals. In the scene where I scored the team’s second goal, the ball delivered from Chiba to Uchida was perfectly aligned towards me, so I told Uchida to dummy the ball, and I was able to convert that goal. We were playing a team from a lower category, so we felt like this was a match we had to win. I have never made a deep run in this tournament during my high school days, so I hope to advance through to face a team from the first division of the Nadeshiko League.

KANNARI Miki, Coach (Gunma FC White Star)
We conceded the first goal too early. I told my player to play safety first for the first 10 minutes, but our opponent was simply the better team today. As we tried to defend against the opponent’s long balls, our defence line was getting pushed back too deep, so during halftime, I told them to push forward instead. Although we ended up conceding two more goals in the second half, we were able to learn many things. There aren’t many chances to face teams from the Nadeshiko League, so we hope to feed off of this experience and strive to become a better team.

OIKAWA Riko (Tokiwagi Gakuen High School)
We were fully committed for this match, so I am glad we were able to earn positive results. We tried to reset our minds during halftime, and it was great to see us score the equaliser from a cross, especially because that was a play we had been working on in our recent training sessions. I have made a habit of chasing down balls even if I had no chance of reaching it, but that approach has allowed me to score today’s goal.

TODA Yugo, Coach (Toyo University)
Our opponent came out applying aggressive pressure, so we focused on exploiting the space between their midfield and defence line. However, with our opponent increasing their aggression in the second half, we failed to execute our plays and started to turnover the ball in the midfield. All of our players are striving to become a better player and they are working extremely hard in each of our training sessions. We have talented players like TAJIMA Minori, who was named as the rookie of the year of the second division of the Nadeshiko League, but we haven’t won any championships yet. The fact that we conceded the equaliser in the second half has rattled our players, and I feel like we need to nurture a winners’ mentality in order for us to make a deeper run in these tournaments.

Empress's Cup JFA 41st Japan Women's Football Championship

Tournament Dates: Sat. 2 November - Sun. 29 December 2019
【1st Round】Sat. 2 & Sun. 3 November
【2nd Round】Sat. 23 & Sun. 24 November
【3rd Round】Sat. 30 November & Sun. 1 December
【Quarterfinals】Sun. 8 December
【Semi-Finals】Sun. 22 December
【Final】Sun. 29 December

Tournament Information