U-19 Japan Women's National Team will meet Korea Republic for the semi-final of the AFC U-19 Women's Championship China 2015 on 26 August. The team started the practice session with some basic exercises, such as passing and shooting.

Then they did a 9-on-9 passing training with two free players. TAKAKURA, coach, shouted encouragement to the players: “our strength is in passing the ball around!”

The players finished the session with free training time, in which some practiced corner kicks, while others focused on taking shots. They all pulled their socks up in preparation for the coming match.

This championship is also the qualifying round for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Papua New Guinea in October 2016. As the top three teams will have a ticket to the World Cup, winning the coming semi-final means that Japan will earn a place.

Coach and Players' Comments

TAKAKURA Asako, Coach
I think Korea Republic tend to defend systematically, showing their mental strength to win games. We’d like to pass the ball around, staying aggressive with spirit, and show our Japanese playing style.

DF ＃2  SHIMIZU Risa (Nippon TV Beleza)
Although I was a little down after the game against China PR, I refreshed myself over the last three days, thinking that having played a tough match before the semi-final was really good for us. I’d like to stay vocal in the game against Korea Republic and play flexibly depending on how the match goes.

MF ＃7   SUGITA Hina (INAC Kobe)
The longer we spend together, the more we communicate among the players. We analysed the opponent, and prepared ourselves very well prior to the coming game. As I couldn’t focus on initiating attacks or playing forward in the match against China PR, I’d like to contribute more to scoring goals tomorrow.

Schedule

※Local Time
Note: The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.