Well, after Asuna Tanaka, INAC are going to miss another one of the glorious veterans from 2011 WWC (and from the seasons of INAC's titles). INAC are going through a metamorphosis, but I have faith that they'll come out strong with the young players they bought in the last seasons.
The "Green Machine" rolls on.......(but I'm not at all sure it's healthy for the game) As the latest addition to the tribe (March 2017) I would like to send my thanks to you all for your kind help and tollerance and wish everybody a Merry Christmas.....Thank you M.N. NADESHIKO FOREVER
Three Championships are held from year-end through New Year (in fact, University's one started yesterday). While somehow University's and Youth(U18)'s ones are not aired very much, you can watch every game of High School one (from December 30th) on the Net. So I introduce high schools you may pay attention to. Seisa Shonan - of course because of the biggest star in this competition Miyazawa, but I'm not sure if they win the title; they sometimes show very immature tactics, and their first opponent is Daisho Gakuen (last year's finalist). Shutoku - they beat Seisa in the final of the Kanto preliminaries. You know well of Sakuyo, Tokiwagi, Kamimura, Fujieda and Hinomoto, because they all competed well with each other these years. Players you know are Okino (Tokiwagi - Mynavi), Chiba (Fujieda) and Ushijima (Hinomoto). Jumonji (last year's champion) looks weaker now and they meet the winner of Seisa and Daisho in the second round. Tokoha Tachibana (Coach Handa Etsuko) - they were always the second in the regional preliminaries behind Fujieda, but this year they beat it in the final. Seiwa Gakuen (Coach Soyama Kanako) - they also beat Tokiwagi in the Tohoku preliminaries final, but entered the most hard block. The first opponent is Hinomoto, and the possible second one is Fujieda.
The Bear is travelling with friends. She appears to be complaining about excessive silliness. Imagine that!
Little Nadeshiko England tour.... Does anyone know the result of the second game against England? Lost the first game 2-1 but JFA site not updated since.
Wow, what a bunch of charming-looking typical Japanese women! The constant presence of Saori Ariyoshi with them makes me wonder: is she going to get back to playing soon?
She played full the Empress's Cup final. I didn't think she returned to her best performance, though. It might take some time.
University Championship result: Nittaidai 0-1 Daitaidai (Nagamachi) Toyo 1-0 Tokuyama Kanagawa 1-0 Tekiyo Heisei Shizuoka 0-3 Waseda (Kawano 2, Nakamura) Semifinals are held on January 12th, and final on 14th.
Before 2018 begins....spare a thought for two of the casualties in 2017 A year to forget for Yuri Kawamura April....moves from Vegalta Sendai to North Carolina Courage to enhance her international career (I suspect) June....Plays only eight games and suffers 'season ending' injury. Hope we see this young woman back in a Nadeshiko shirt in 2018......Good luck in your recovery Kawamura san. Saori Arioshi.....welcome back (March must seem like a lifetime ago) Wishing all those who have been forced to watch from the sideline this season because of injury a speedy recovery.
Finally found the time to watch this video. Asuna Tanaka keeps being quite emotional, but we had already seen the film of her goodbye with tears when she had left to Germany some years ago. Ohno, as usual, has been much more cool in her final speech. I must admit that Asuna's goal vs the Korean selection was very nice, though. A lob reminding of the technical prowess of her friend Naho. Actually, both INAC's goals in that match under the rain were beautiful: Miki Ito's volley from Ayu pomme Nakada's CK was awesome. Talking about Ayu Nakada: she looks like an obnoxious person to have near to you on a bus. But she does know how to strike a pose.
Unepomme....if you watch the following Seiwa v Hinomoto match...(Hinomoto on penalties) Who was the famous mum in the crowd the camera kept going to?
I'm not sure of that. TBS TV likes to shoot games as dramas, so I guess she is some player's mother or related person. Possibly that player may have been focused before or after her shots.
Today's result: Shutoku 2-0 Tokaidai Fukuoka Teikyo Daisan 0-1 Hiroshima Bunkyo Maebashi Ikuei 1-2 Sakuyo Kaishi Gakuen 1-0 Kagawa Nishi Tokiwagi 0-1 Osaka Gakugei St. Capitanio 0-2 Kobe Koryo Fukui 4-1 Sanyo Hokkaido Meisei 0-2 Kamimura Seisa Shonan 1-2 Daisho Jumonji 3-2 Shugakukan Hanasaki Tokuharu 1-2 Naruto Uzushio Nihon Koku 2-1 Tokoha Tachibana Matsusho Gakuen 6-0 Rokko Island Otani Muroran 0-1 Houou Senshu Kitagami 0-10 Fujieda Junshin Seiwa 0-0 (PK 2-4) Hinomoto Tomorrow's important games: Daisho Gakuen vs Jumonji (the last year's final) Fujieda Junshin vs Hinomoto