Official 2017 Nadeshiko Japan Thread [R] - なでしこジャパン（英語スレッド）

Now, that I think about it, what a year for Mitsuki Horie: Silver Medal at Universiade and promotion to Division 2 for her, this season! And, with 9 goals scored, she should have secured 2nd place in Challenge League's top-scorers' rankings, along with Jun Endo (Tokiwagi's Yume Takikawa leads with 10).

 

This means 6 hours from now, 14:30 in Italy. At this rate, I could actually even follow the game, as long as we find a reliable streaming (not like the AFC official one, to be clear!). I go to work, now: I hope to find some good links in the afternoon!

By the way, looking at the results at group stage, it looks like Australia sent an incredibly poor U-16 team to this tournament: not only Matildas lost by 0-5 to Japan and by 0-7 to PRK, but they barely squeezed in a 3-2 win over Bangladesh!

 

Poor girls: that field under the rain didn't look like the best one to play...

Props to the people on the standings, showing up with that weather to chant and support all the time!

 

I hope this time AFC stream is going to work. Although I would really like to have a back-up, in the case it fails to properly work, as usual.

 

Ok, as per usual, the AFC streaming is basically unwatchable: our girls trasform into shapeless bunch of pixels during National Anthem. I can't even manage to read all of the numbers: anyone has starting 11?

 

Starting 11 as I piece them together from jerseys (AFC streaming is working good now):

#21 Fukuda
#22 Yoshizumi - # 4 Nagae - #5 Matsuda - #2 Tomioka
#20 Yamamoto - #10 Nakao - #17 Kinoshita - #6 Ito (Sara)
#11 Osawa - #7 Takizawa

Not sure if positions are accurate, but it should be it.

 

Try again: working well for Lechus7 and me, right now. Refresh the page.

 

Nice actions by Japan. Guess what we're lacking? Yes, finishing...

 

Not easy to say. Japan had most possession so far, and deployed the usual web of good passes. Some half chances, but the problem is always the same: we built the action magnificently until we enter the box, then we seldom frame a shot, or when we do it's quite weak.

South Korea is playing a tidy game and was mildly dangerous from a pair of set pieces, but I'd say we are quite dominant so far.

 

By the way: the AFC streaming, for some reasons, doesn't show a clock, but I'd say end of 1st half should be quite close right now.

 

HT 0-0.

I confirm the analysis made some minutes ago. Koreans were again mildly dangerous from a CK, Japan again made dangerous actions leading nowhere. This looks like the script of the game.

At this age range, some of South Korean players' faces eerily resemble porcelain dolls (including GK's).

Kusonose didn't look very happy at the end of 1st half, and was seen frantically playing checkers on a Norio-like magnetic clipboard: I expect some tactical change in 2nd half, and maybe some substitutions at HT already.

I just finished watching 1st half highlights, in particular the only real dangerous chance of the whole period, a Korean FK. At first sight, I had thought that our GK had been quite poor there and that she should have blocked the shot, instead of just deflecting it in corner. From highlights, I noticed a slight deflection from our wall, that made Fukuda's save quite difficult, and actually excellent.

 

Extra-LOLOLOL!

#9 Tomoko Tanaka was subbed in at HT (not sure yet about who came out) and scored after about 10 seconds!!!

Kusunose exchanges high fives with the rest of a bench for a quite successfull move they have made!

Nice goal, actually: Tanaka (a Cerezo girl, for those wondering) dribbled out half Korean defense!