Official 2019 Nadeshiko Japan Thread [R] - なでしこジャパン（英語スレッド）

Slightly let down by Beleza's result, although nothing is lost for the torunament. I am persuaded that they are the best club in Asia, but of course they'll have to show that in the next games, especially vs the Korean Champions (that, hopefully, at least, will play a more open game).

 

Let's see if the rest of the international scene can somehow sooth us Japanese fans:

Aussie W-League:

- Round 2: on Sunday, Melbourne City won an away game vs Canberra United by 1-2: Yukari Kinga played the full game, got a Yellow Card in 1st Half and had an absolut leading role in her team's win, since she assisted Mijatovic for the first goal and she was fouled in the box at the last minute of injury-time, resulting in a PK that was converted for the win by Emily Van Egmond. Having had a draw in Round 1, Melbourne City has now 4 points.
You can see Kinga's prowess in these excellent highlights of the match: https://www.w-league.com.au/video/canberra-united-v-melbourne-city-highlights-westfield-w-league


Division 1 Féminine:

- on Saturday, Soyaux-Olympique Lyon 0-4. The result was round and clear, but, as you will see in highlights, Soyaux had two excellent chances on 0-2 in 2nd Half, and last goal by OL, by Amandine Henry, was possibly an hand-ball.
Saki Kumagai started and played 80'. OL maintains the three points advantage over PSG they had gained last week after the direct clash, decided, as you surely remember, by an header from our Saki.
Highlights of the match:



As a bonus, I'll upload these special "Saki Kumagai highlights" from last week's OL-PSG match ; as you can see, apart from the goal, her contribution to the whole game was excellent. I especially like her long-range passes: I'd like to see more of them in Nadeshiko Japan also, but for that we'd need to play her a little higher on the pitch, not as a CB (a role that, unluckily, we absolutely need her for) but as a holding Midfielder, as she's played in OL:




Frauen-Bundesliga:

- Sad news for SC Freiburg, who's lost by 5-0 an away game vs SGS Essen. Hikaru Naomoto, for some reason, wasn't even on the bench: I suspect that this could be one of those seasons of recurring injuries for her; unless the reason is that she wasn't back yet from the Challenge NT camp in Japan?

- BV Cloppenburg won an away game by 3-5 vs SG 99 Andernach. Both Shiho Tomari and Natsuki Kishikawa were on the pitch for the whole game and Kishikawa scored the third goal for her team, an equalizer on 3-3 at 86' that was the base to build the final win with two other goals in the subsequent 5 minutes.


Liga Femenina:

- the top-clash FC Barcelona-Deportivo Abanca was a virtual no contest: 5-1 for the Blaugrana. Our Maya Yamamoto started and was subbed-out at 58'. Deportivo is now third-placed, 6 points behind Barcelona.

- Atletico Madrid-Espanyol 3-0, with Ayaka Noguchi playing the whole match. Espanyol still dead-lost in the league.

- To end with some good news from Spain, Sporting Huelva won a game by 2-0 vs Madrid CFF. Yoko Tanaka started and even got a YC (@pierre bezukhov will be happy that she fouls more than in Nojima? ) some minutes before being subbed-out at 79', with her team ahead by 1-0. It's the second consecutive win for Huelva, who finally are out of the relegation zone and now stand in 13th position out of 16 teams.
As you can see in highlights, where Yoko Yanaka is often mentioned, our player was quite active and well involved in her team's passing game:
http://www.teleonuba.es/hay-dos-sin-tres-para-un-sporting-que-toma-aire-2-0/


Serie A Femminile:

- Tavagnacco lost another match, an home game vs Inter, with both Kunisawa and Kato on the pitch for the whole game. The team keeps standing in one-to-last position with just 2 points made in 7 games.


Rounding up, we had bittersweet moments, but I guess we can we proud of this week's performances from Yukari Kinga, Saki Kumagai and Yoko Tanaka, for what concerns top-level leagues, and Shiho Tomari/Natsuki Kishikawa for German 2nd Division.

 

The website actually says 4-3 Ehime.

 

Wow, I didn't think Melbourne could have made points, after the bashing they had taken from the Red Angels.

I am home from work, so maybe I can watch at least a little of second half (although I'll have to go to dinner at some point later).

 

Beatiful header from CK action, and Beleza is ahead by 1-0 at 49'!

The Corner was taken by Hasegawa and the perfect header in goal was by Ueki, who had also gained the Corner Kick from a deflection of a shot in the previous good action.

Now things get interesting in this tournament!

 

Good actions one after the other by Beleza.

They would need a second goal now that Red Angels will forcibly have to open to try to come back.

Beleza have always showed that they are a very fit team, normally ending the game on a better pace than their opponents, so i am quite optimistic about the final score.

 

Kobayashi devastating on the Right-Side: Mina Tanaka almost scored from her assist, that was deflected in corner.

 

Beleza's passing game is almost flawless at the hour mark and Korean players hardly manage to regain possession.

A Tanaka's shot was just a little higher over the crossbar; it's a shame: I didn't watch first half, but looking at this second half it seems to me that Beleza would deserve a two goals advantage and I wouldn't want to see some kind of random equalizer later...

 

I had never seen this #25 DF play for Beleza: Wakaba Goto, if I read well from the line-up. Was she taken from Menina? Had she much playing time in this season? She looks quite good.