International Friendly Match
U-16 Japan Women's National Team vs U-16 Netherlands Women's National Team
Wed. 26 June 2019, 15:30 (Local time) Match duration 90mins (45mins×2)
Sportmedisch Centrum KNVB, Netherlands

U-16 Japan Women's National Team 3-2 (1-0, 2-2) U-16 Netherlands Women's National Team

Scores
10' FUJINO Aoba (U-16 Japan Women's National Team)
49' goal against (U-16 Netherlands Women's National Team)
50' goal against (U-16 Netherlands Women's National Team)
56' FUJINO Aoba (U-16 Japan Women's National Team)
78' FUJINO Aoba (U-16 Japan Women's National Team)

Starting Line-up
GK: HATTORI Momoka
DF: KOYAMA Shinomi, HAYASHI Manaka, ISHIKAWA Rion, HAZEKAWA Yuna
MF: TANNO Ririka, AMANO Suzu, OTA Moe, MINOWA Chisato
FW: NISHIO Hanon, FUJINO Aoba

Reserves
GK: NISHIKAWA Kana, OKUMA Akane
DF: ASAKURA Kanako, HIRANAKA Kyono, IDE Hinata
MF: OIKAWA Sae, SATO Chihiro, INOSE Yuko
FW: IKUTA Nanasa, NEBU Momoko

Substitutions
HT NISHIO Hanon → NEBU Momoko
64' HAZEKAWA Yuna → INOSE Yuko
86' OTA Moe → HIRANAKA Kyono

Match Report

On Wednesday 26 June, the U-16 Japan Women's National Team played an international friendly match against the U-16 Netherlands Women's National Team, during their Netherlands tour.

The early minutes of the match saw the Netherlands taking the initiative, as Japan struggled to take control of the ball possession. The Netherlands came close to scoring the opener from a corner kick in the fourth minute, but the Japanese goalkeeper HATTORI Momoka made a fine save to keep the clean sheet intact. Following this play, Japan gradually found their rhythm, as MINOWA Chisato struck a close shot in the seventh minute, followed by an opportunity created by OTA Moe and FUJINO Aoba in the 10th minute to free up NISHIO Hanon, but the play was called offsides. The opening goal came just moments after this play, as Fujino intercepted a pass from the opposing goalkeeper and fired the ball into the net. With this being the only goal scored in the first half, the match entered halftime with a 1-0 Japan lead.

With the Netherlands making a drastic change to their line-up in the second half, Japan struggled to possess the ball in the early minutes. The home side converted a penalty kick to level the match in the 49th minute, followed by the go-ahead goal scored in the 50th minute after forcing a turnover deep in the Japanese territory. Despite giving up the lead, Japan did not back down, as Fujino responded with a 56th minute equaliser, followed by the game winner scored in the 76th minute, assisted by AMANO Suzu. With the help of Fujino’s hat-trick, Japan won the match with a final score of 3-2.

The U-16 Japan Women's National Team will now play a training match against the local club team DZC'68 on Saturday 29 June.

Players' Comments

GK HATTORI Momoka (JFA Academy Fukushima)
The opening goal scored in the first half really gave our team the momentum. The opponents were bigger and stronger than us, but we kept talking to each other to fight as a team. Despite giving up the lead in the second half, we stayed vocal to make the adjustments and that approach led to our second and third goal. The fact that we were able to win a close match gives us great confidence ahead of the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship.

MF MINOWA Chisato (Hinomoto Gakuen Senior High School)
After the Nadeshiko Japan lost to the Netherlands, we entered the match with a strong intention to win the match. Compared from our Italy tour and the recent training match, our transition between offence and defence, and our response to the opponent’s long balls have improved. However, we entered the second half poorly and conceded consecutive goals, which is an aspect we must do better on. In our next match, we will try to change the flow of the game even when the opponents have control of the game.

FW FUJINO Aoba (Jumonji Senior High School)
With this being my first call-up to the team, I entered this tour with the intention to showcase my full potential. Before today’s game, my teammates from my school sent me words of encouragement, which motivated me to give my best efforts to help the team win the match, so I am glad I was able to earn good results in this match. Our opponents showed very different momentum between the first and second half, but if we had converted our opportunities in the first half, we could’ve taken control of the entire match. I hope to become a player that can earn results under pressure.

Schedule

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

Upcoming Schedule

*The schedule is subject to change.