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

Mmm... wrong thread? Any Samurai Blue's match today?

 

Not sure if the link is corrupted or if the article is behind a pay-wall, but I can't seem to reach it.

 

It is "somehow" trasfer news #7, meaning that the last update that you gave to us, on 22th of January, was called #6, but you had already used #6 four days before, in the mini-update of 18th of January!

I am happy that Otaki found a way to play in Division 1, especially in a year leading to World Cup. I don't think she has a chance to perusade Takakura that she's worth a place in the roster, with so few games scheduled before the squad has to be finalized, but I am very happy that, after her brilliant season in Division 2, she found a home in first division.

Of course, I'd say this hurts Nippatsu chances to fight for promotion a lot.

 

When I wrote this post, I hadn't considered that it was actually the last match-day of Aussie W-League: so, it's true that Melbourne City had caught up with Sydney and Perth at 4th place, but, with the way the different results of the match-day lined up, thay actually missed out on play-offs through goal difference.

If it can be of any consolation, Kinga's failed PK wouldn't have been enough, because Melbourne would have needed at least one more goal beyond that penalty, most probably two more (since I guess the subsequent tie-breaker would have been the number of goals scored).

Anyway, despite that miss, Yukari Kinga has been named Melbourne City Player of the Year 2018/2019. If you read the article, you'll find her numbers, at 34, have been impressive; she recently declared that she wouldn't mind playing again in NT, should Takakura decide to call her. I don't think it will happen, but we're going to see...

Edit: Yuki Nagasato, instead, will play the semifinal of Aussie-League with her team, Brisbane Roar, vs Sydney FC Women on 10th of February.
I can't help wondering about what could happen should she win the whole league: Takakura would ignore the most successful Japanese player of this season, with NWSL and Ausiie-W-league play-offs under her belt?

 

Very funny promotional stuff! I guess they really hit the spot with that one. The funniest super-hero name probably has to be "Lotta Lightning".

By the way, I guess some of the players who were transformed in super-heroes are actually still active (Vero Boquete, for instance), but I guess they probably have 0% chance of being called in the roster for WWC (or maybe they have actually retired from NT for good).

 

I had recently posted the same.

Anyway, I do agree that, since the Aussie-W-League season is finished (Melbourne City barely missed play-offs, so it's finished for them anyway), Kinga, at 34, needs to keep playing with some continuity. So it makes sense that she jumps form China, to Australia, to back to Japan while the other leagues aren't operative. I guess she's making some good money from her overseas contract, by the way.

So Orca Kamogawa it's just the place where she can keep playing while she waits for other opportunies overseas to open. By the way, Orca is not a bad team at all, for a Division 2 club; they could even be challengers for promotion, despite all of the other good contenders (Cerezo, Saitama, Nippatsu...).

 

Talking about Aussie-W-League: Yuki Nagasato scored today a beautiful goal in stoppage time, but her team Brisbane Roar FC lost anyway the semifinal vs Sydney FC by 1-2. So, no Australian title for Yuki as Yukari had done last year.

Highlights: https://www.w-league.com.au/match/b...v-sydney-fc-women-w-league-10-02-2019/1047303