2016 U-17 Women's NTC Invitational　1st Match  vs U-18 Korea Republic Women's National team
2016-2-11 (Thu.) - 15:00   Playing Time: 90min. (45min.×2)
Grenn "Mooch" Myernick Field (USA/Carson)

U-17 Japan Women's National team　5-0 (3-0, 2-0)　U-18 Korea Republic Women's National team

Scores
23'　INOUE Hina (U-17 Japan Women's National team)
25'　TAKARADA Saori (U-17 Japan Women's National team)
37'　TAKARADA Saori (U-17 Japan Women's National team)
80'　KANNO Oto (U-17 Japan Women's National team)
90'　KURATA Akari (U-17 Japan Women's National team)

Line-ups
GK: TANAKA Momoko
DF: TOMITA Miyu, ONO Nana, TAKAHIRA Miyu, MORINAKA Hina
MF: NAGANO Fuka, KANNO Oto, TAKARADA Saori, MIYAZAWA Hinata, INOUE Hina
FW: UEKI Riko

Substitutes
GK: KOGURE Chiaki
DF: KANEHIRA Risa, USHIJIMA Riko, NEZU Makoto
MF: KURATA Akari, KITAMURA Nanami, MATSUDA Shino
FW: ENDO Jun, MIURA Haruka

HT　TOMITA Miyu → KITAMURA Nanami
70'　MORINAKA Hina → NEZU Makoto
70'　INOUE Hina → KURATA Akari
87'　TAKAHIRA Miyu → KANEHIRA Risa
87'　MIYAZAWA Hinata → MATSUDA Shino

Match Report

U-17 Japan Women's National team played their first game during their on-going USA trip against the U-18 Korea Republic Women's National team.

Under a warm sunshine, the game kicked off at 15:00. Japan put on fierce attack on the Korean goal from early. On 19th minute, midfielder KANNO Oto and forward UEKI Riko connected passes, and Kanno received a pass again and fired a shot. But it went above the goal bar.

In the 23rd minute, following a throw-in, defender TAKARADA Saori dribbled up in the right side and sent a pass into the goal area. While there was some battles there, midfielder INOUE Hina, who made her first national team appearance, put it into the goal to give Japan a 1-0 lead. 

And in the 25th minute, Takarada received a pass from Inoue and had a shot dodging a defender to add another goal for the team. In the 37th minute, forward MIYAZAWA Hinata and Ueki relayed passed and Takarada netted a goal in the end to give Japan a 3-0 lead before halftime.

Japan didn't loosen their attacking mode in the second half. In the 80th minute, Kanno reacted to a through pass from Takarada and put it into the goal to give the team a 4-0 lead. In the 90th minute, Ueki and Takarada connected passes and midfielder and late substitute KURATA Akari scored in the end and the U-17 Japan squad posted a 5-0 win.

Coach and Players' Comments

KUSUNOSE Naoki, Coach
Toward the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, it was our first international game to play as the U-17 team. In a hot condition, we had some tough times in having momentum and getting our rhythm early on, but we still managed to capitalize on our chances and have the initiative. We ended up winning 5-0, but we struggled to pass as well as we would hope to, which is something we definitely need to have to play on par against the world, so we left some issues.

On the contrary, we played collective defence and our newcomers came through, and that was what we can reflect positively. We only have a day's rest until our next game, but we would like to have good preparation making adjustments we need to make toward the England game.

TAKARADA Saori (Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies)
We weren't able to rotate the ball with one touches, it led us to have some tough times making passes as well as we would want to. Individually, my passing lacked accuracy, so I want to make adjustments on it and we would like to get some goals by cooperating with my teammates in the England game. What I took it positively was that I was involved in all our scoring plays, scoring two goals and having three assists. Hopefully, I score some goals and run hard for the team in our next game against England and pull the championship toward us, which is our goal this time.

Schedule

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