With one day to go before the third-place playoff of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Papua New Guinea 2016, the U-20 Japan Women's National Team held the final practice session on Friday 2 December. During the warm-up exercises, the players were highly focused, but showed smiles as they prepare for the important match. Then, they went through shooting drills and six-a-side intrasquad scrimmages. Everyone in the team knew the importance of this practice session and none of them wasted any time to get themselves ready.

Coach TAKAKURA Asako expressed her aim prior to the game against the USA: ‘although we could not achieve our biggest goal, now we are focused on gaining a medal as a team. We performed well against France in the semi-finals, but failed to win the match..I hope the players learned what they need to do to win a match.’

The U-20 Japan Women's National Team will play the third-place match against U-20 USA at 16:00 (15:00 Japan Time) on Saturday 3 December.

Players' Comments

MF ＃6 SUMIDA Rin (NIPPON TV BELEZA)
I remember the USA attacked with speed when I played against them last year. In order to showcase our team efforts, we need to stay strong on the ball and run until the final minute without giving up. We hope to string passes, display the Japanese playing style, and bring a medal back to Japan.

GK ＃12 MATSUMOTO Mamiko (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies)
I’d like to play my hardest in our last game, so that I will not feel any regret. Learning from our defeat against Spain was important, and we capitalised on this experience to compete throughout the tournament. I’d like to challenge many things both in attack and defence, thinking of our future.

FW ＃10 MOMIKI Yuka (NIPPON TV BELEZA)
I have been playing with these teammates since I was little. So I cannot image that tomorrow’s match will be the last one. I am determined to play as if this were the last game of my football career. We will give our best to win the medal.

MF ＃19 SHIOKOSHI Yuzuho (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies)
I feel sad that tomorrow’s game will be the last one we play with this team after playing together for a month. I believe we will attain a positive result by displaying everything we have been practicing. I’d like to play as though it’s the beginning and end this championship with smiles.

Schedule

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