On Thursday 23 August, the Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women's National Team) held a training session ahead of their quarterfinal match at the 18th Asian Games 2018 Jakarta Palembang. With their next opponent determined the night before, the team conducted a training session with a clear vision.

After the Group A action has concluded, it was determined that the Nadeshiko Japan will face the Korea DPR Women's National Team, who finished as the runners-up in their group where China PR took the top spot. Korea DPR has been ranked highly in the FIFA rankings in the recent years and has led women’s football in Asia. Japan has fallen to them many times in the past encounters and it is certain that the quarterfinals will present Japan with a totally new challenge compared to the first two matches. With the team losing to the Korea DPR side at the final of EAFF E-1 Football Championship 2017 which was held in Japan, this time the team will be seeking for revenge in Indonesia.

Despite seeing her side scoring nine goals in the first two matches, Coach TAKAKURA Asako stated after their second match, “We have wasted too many opportunities. We must heighten our quality.” The players were also not satisfied with their offensive output, as the team were seen conducting a training session with an emphasis on scoring goals.

The session took place for nearly 90 minutes as the team conducted numerous variations of processioning and shooting drills. With their focal point set on scoring goals, every drill they conducted on this day was played with a goal.

Every player mentioned of their next opponents as a “Very strong team,” but Coach Takakura showed her confidence, “If we can manage to play our game, we have plenty of chance to win the match.”

On this day, Commissioner SUZUKI Daichi of the Japan Sports Agency and Asian Games Group Leader YAMASHITA Yasuhiro of the Japanese Athletes paid a visit to the athletes’ village in Palembang. The Nadeshiko Japan was encouraged by their words, which stated, “We will be wishing for the very best results at this tournament, and hope you continue to strive higher ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in two years.”

The Asian Games quarterfinal match against the Korea DPR Women's National Team will be held on Saturday 25 August with a kick off time of 18:00 Japan time.

Players’ Comments

DF #5 TAKAGI Hikari (Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara)
After watching the match between Korea DPR and China PR, it made me think that facing either team would be a tough challenge, as both teams displayed great intensity to win every ball. It is ironic that we are going to face the Korea DPR team, who we lost in the E-1 tournament, at our first match of the knockout stage, but in order for us to win the title, we are going to have to face them sooner or later. We all know that they are a tough team, so we will work as a team to win the match. Personally, I will increase my mobility and prepare myself well so that I can take the upper hand at one-on-one situations in both offence and defence.

FW #8 IWABUCHI Mana (INAC Kobe Leonessa)
Our quarterfinal opponent has been determined to be Korea DPR. They are a very good team, so it’s a little unfortunate that we have to face them in the quarterfinals. There’s no doubt it will be a very tough match, but in order for us to win the championship, we must beat them somewhere along the line, so we will give our best to win the match and advance to the next round. At the knockout stage, we cannot afford to lose any matches, so we must concede less goals while scoring as much as we can. If each and every player focused on helping the team, we should be able to earn positive results.

Schedule

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

The 18th Asian Games 2018 Jakarta Palembang

Tournament Dates:Sat. 18 August - Sun. 2 September 2018

【Women's】Quarterfinals
Sat. 25 August 18:00 [Japan time] vs Korea DPR

Tournament Information