In the afternoon of Wednesday 17 February, another training session was held in Nakagusuku Village in Okinawa for the Japan Women's National Team short-listed squad preparing themselves for the final round of the Olympic qualifiers.

Against male college players, they repeated match-style drills with focus on their defence, before finishing the day with a 20-minute intrasquad scrimmage. The focal point of the day was to review different style of situational tactics against physical and fast opponents.

Midfielder NAKAJIMA Emi said “we are thankful for the opportunity like this to play against male college players. I think we are working out with a shared understating among the team on what we are supposed to do now.” Coach SASAKI Norio, who occasionally stopped plays to give instructions, commented in the end “the players showed good challenges.”

“There are a lot more things for us to do, but we are in the process of tackling them one by one and piling it up,” said goalkeeper FUKUMOTO Miho, who was a back-up member of the national team 12 years ago in 2004, when the centrally-formatted Olympic qualifiers were held in Japan. “We want to organise the ways we play as a team and get ready for the first match to win it no matter what,” added the veteran.

For U-20 Japan Women’s National Team coach TAKAKURA Asako, who played in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 when women’s football was played as an official event for the first time, it was her last day of the three-day visit to the national team. After dinner, she said the words of encouragement to the players before leaving the hotel. “I hope you work together, support each other and get the spot in the Olympics.”

There are only two more days left in the ongoing second team camp. On the last day, the team will announce the final roster which move on to the next camp starting on 22 February.

Players' Comments

DF  KINGA Yukari (INAC Kobe)
Now that we are at this point, all we have left to do is to improve our overall team quality. It will decide in a short period of time, and the key is how much we can come together as a team when we play important matches. Olympics are the big turning points for women’s football in Japan. There is no doubt that qualifiers will be a tough test for us, but we will keep it in mind strongly that we have got to do everything we can do to get the ticket to advance.

GK  FUKUMOTO Miho (Okayama Yunogo Belle)
We have been able to make sure how we play as a team in each given situation. There are a lot more things for us to do, but we are in the process of tackling them one by one and piling it up. We feel the responsibility there is on us that we can never miss the Olympic berth, and every one of us including myself is here with that kind of mindset. In order to show that on the pitch, we want to play with that responsibility in mind.

Schedule

*Local time
*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.

Asian Qualifiers Final Round (Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016)

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