NAOMOTO Hikaru of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Urawa Reds Ladies must have been surprised when she was unexpectedly approached and asked to shake hands at an unexpected moment

This was a scene from the semi-final of the Empress's Cup JFA 46th Japan Women's Football Championship against INAC Kobe Leonessa, which was held at Sanga Stadium by KYOCERA in Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture, on 18 January. In the 44th minute of the second half, Naomoto stood on the touchline waiting to be substituted for SHIOKOSHI Yuzuho.

That's when Kobe head coach Jordi FERRON stepped out of his technical area, walked up to Naomoto and gave his hand to her. Naomoto stood up straight and shook his hand before running onto the pitch for the first time in a year.

Naomoto is from Ogori City in southern Fukuoka Prefecture, which borders Saga Prefecture. She started playing football in the first grade of primary school under the influence of her elder brother and played for Fukuoka J. Anclas in Fukuoka City for 6 years from the age of 12 to 18 and was selected for the Japan Women's National Team at U-17 and U-20 level. In 2012, she enrolled at the University of Tsukuba and joined Urawa Reds Ladies at the same time. From 2018 to 2019, she played for SC Freiburg in Germany and returned to Urawa in 2020 ahead of the inaugural season of Japan's first professional women's football league, the WE League.

She became a regular member of Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women's National Team) from 2014 and entered the New Year of 2024 with her sights set on the Paris Olympics. However, she was struck by tragedy on 20 January when she suffered an ACL injury to her left knee in the second half of the Empress's Cup semi-final.

In that match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina, Urawa lost two of their key players in succession, with the pillar of the team ANDO Kozue also injuring her knee and being substituted in the first half. Although they managed to win after extra time and penalties to reach the final, they finished runners-up to Kobe on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Naomoto underwent surgery on 26 January, 2024, the day before this final, and took the first step towards her return. However, dealing with a serious injury that was expected to take 8-10 months to recover from, she was unable to take part in the Paris Olympics that summer, and her rehabilitation process took almost a year. It was not until a year later, in the semi-finals of this year's Empress's Cup, that she finally made it onto the bench for an official match.

Kobe head coach Ferron was born in Barcelona, Spain. He was selected for the Spain National Team at various age groups as a right-back or a midfielder and was part of the team that won the silver medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. However, he was unable to achieve significant success at club level and retired at the age of 35 before pursuing a career in coaching. After coaching several clubs in Spain from 2015, he was appointed head coach of Kobe in the summer of 2023.

And in just six months at Kobe, he led the club to win the Empress's Cup. He must have felt sorry, however, that Ando and Naomoto - especially the latter, who was a member of Nadeshiko Japan - were unable to play for Urawa in the final.

The whole scene was shown live on NHK BS. As Naomoto waited to be substituted on the touchline, Ferron came over from the other side. At first, I thought Kobe was also going to make a substitution, but the Spanish coach said a few words to Naomoto and shook her hand. It all happened so quickly, but it was a very heartwarming scene.

It was as if Ferron wanted to congratulate a fellow footballer who had overcome a serious injury with a strong will to return to the pitch. The way Naomoto accepted his handshake was equally impressive, as the exchange between the two transcended team boundaries.

There was more than four minutes of additional time. Naomoto, who came on as an attacking midfielder, ran hard and took some close shots. Every time the game paused, the camera zoomed in on her, showing her face beaming with the joy of playing football. And after the game, she may have been thinking about the words and the handshake she shared with Ferron.

Written by OSUMI Yoshiyuki (Football Journalist)

*This article was originally posted on the Japan Football Association Newsletter, “JFAnews,” February 2025 edition.

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