Nadeshiko Japan held training sessions at a ground in Incheon in preparation for their coming final match in the group stage against Chinese Taipei at the 17th Asian Games.
After they held a video session, they moved to the training ground. They ran through from the build-up to shots on goal and some set pieces and checked some combinations.

Japan’s record against Chinese Taipei is 14 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw, scoring 69 goals and conceding 15. The head coach Nagira Masayuki, who was sent by Japan Football Association, currently leads the Chinese Taipei women’s national team. Sasaki, the head coach of Nadeshiko Japan, noted: ‘Chinese Taipei uses Japan’s playing style. The team’s quality has improved since the last time when U-23 Japan women’s national team played against them at the East Asian Games.’ Miyama also commented: ‘they try very hard. We need to play fully, or we can’t score a goal. I’d like to try harder than them.’

It’s the third day of the Asian Games. The U-21 Japan national team won 4-0 against Nepal, getting through to the knockout stage.
As for the women’s football, Korea Republic and Thailand in group A, and Korea DPR in group C have already got through to the quarterfinals. If Japan top group B, they will play against India, who are sitting in third place in Group A, or against the team, who will be in third place in Group C - Hong Kong or Vietnam. If Japan end in second place in group B, they will play against Korea DPR in their quarterfinal.
Two final matches of the group B will kick off at 20:00 on Monday 22 September.

Comments

SASAKI Norio, Head Coach
We have a good feeling that we will get through to the knockout stage. We are in preparation for achieving our goals, in terms of playing well in the match as well. In the meeting, we discussed about how we would attack hard in order to hit the opponent’s weak points. The players have been showing their basic skills, such as the quality of the crosses and the speed of switching. It’s vital to get through to the knockout stage in a good position. So we’d like to score goals as many as possible to win the match.

NAKAJIMA Emi（INAC Kobe）
We need to score as many as possible in our third match of the group stage. I’d like to assist many goal-scoring opportunities, not to mention actually scoring goal. Sometimes we might have to play in multiple positions, as the number of the registered players is limited. However, we know that what we have to do is essentially the same. We have some players, who can score, up front. So I’d like to receive the ball and pass it nicely to them.

KAWASUMI Nahomi（INAC Kobe）
As a team, we’ve been trying to attack, using the space to both the right and the left of the penalty area for shooting. Since there are some new faces in our team, we checked the defences together. Tomorrow I’d like to score again just like I did in the match against Jordan on 18 September.

Match Schedule