The U-20 Japan Women's National Team have clinched a semifinal berth in the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Papua New Guinea. The players who started in the Brazil game went through recovery regimen at the hotel, while the others practiced on the pitch. They began with an’ ice breaker’ exercise, then worked on 4-on-4 ‘breaking through the line’ drills and played five-a-side intrasquad games for about an hour and a half.

At night, the entire team watched a Germany-France quarter-final match, since either of them could be their next opponents. They carefully observed how both teams played, as they were different from any of the opponents that Japan faced so far in the tournament. It also gave them some time to reflect upon their issues towards their next game.

After all, France won the match 1-0. U-20 Japan will face U-20 France in the semi-final at 19:30 (18:30 Japan Time) on Tuesday 29 November.

Players' Comments

MF ＃2 MIZUTANI Yuki (University of Tsukuba)
(In the Canada game that I played) I've got an impression that our opponents had speed and physicality, but the two teams we saw today were different. They possessed the ability to win in one-on-one situations, steal the ball and play collectively. I'm excited to play against them. I don't think we can triumph simply by using our speed, so we need to stay calm and make the necessary adjustments during the game.

MF ＃14 MIURA Narumi (NIPPON TV BELEZA)
Personally, I’m frustrated that I have not played to the level where I am fully satisfied in the tournament. But as a team, I feel we have gotten better with every game. In the France-Germany game we saw, they both played capitalising on their individual speed and power. Especially France had players with high individual skills. It made us think that we need to defend solidly. If you rush into them, they can easily get past you. We need to defend collectively—if one challenges the opponent, then the other should cover her.

Schedule

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