Nadeshiko Japan had their preparation training on Sunday 2 August ahead of their second match against Korea Republic in the EAFF Women's East Asian Cup 2015.

After falling to Korea DPR 4-2 on the previous day, the players who had a long playing time in the loss had recovery workouts at hotel and the other players went out to train at a practice field in Wuhan.

In the scorching heat, 13 players including KYOKAWA Mai, who subbed out midway through the match against Korea DPR, worked on shooting drills and a 6 v 6 intra-squad game with neutral players in a 90-minute session. In the afternoon, they spent time for physical treatments and a meeting in the run-up to their second match of the tournament to be held after a two-day interval.

The players who did not get to play in the opening match showed their hunger for playing time in the next match against Korea Republic. Forward TANAKA Mina (Nippon TV Beleza) said after the training, "It's disappointing I wasn't able to play in the last match and I thought it was important to coordinate with my teammates because we don't usually play together. I will show off what I've got."

While Korea Republic defeated China PR 1-0 in their opener and are in second spot on goal difference, Japan look to build up a good mood for the final match by winning the second match. The contest between them will kick off at 6:20 p.m. (7:20 p.m. Japan time) on Tuesday 4 August.

Players’ Comments

MF #23   SHIBATA Hanae (Urawa Reds Ladies)
I was watching the match yesterday, thinking that "If I were playing, I would play like this." If I have a chance to play in the Korea Republic match, I will try to challenge with my strength when I receive or rob the ball at a high position.

I will be careful how we give away the ball. And I will also make a right judgement, like if I can’t go by myself, I will make use of my teammates. I'm thinking that the Rio Olympics is still far away for me because I have never played even in a single national team match. If I have a chance to play, I will show off my strength and try to play aggressively.

FW #17   ARIMACHI Saori (Vegalta Sendai Ladies)
Speaking of the Korea DPR match, SUGASAWA was able to keep the ball, so I tried to run through space behind the defensive line and make them stay back at their end, and tried to use space that became open. The opposing players were very skilful. I expected the match would be a gruelling match. So I also tried to keep the ball carefully and not to lose the ball.

On the offensive side, I feel the combination in front of goal is still not good enough. But we were able to play well when receiving the ball in the vital area. Compared to 2013 when I was called up last time, I feel attackers' moves and timing between them have been getting better. In the rest of the two matches, I will try to attack where the opponents don’t want us to attack and get involved in team's goals.

Schedule