Darn...this just surfaced: SheBelieves Cup February 27 England v Brazil USA v Japan March 2nd Brazil v Japan USA v England March 5th England v Japan USA v Brazil
To me Nagasato's text reads like she was seriously depressed (as am I about the state of Bundesliga...) and she found joy in football again in Chicago. While it definitely sounds like she is open for any invitation I feel she'd also be fine and at peace with the possibility of no more call ups.
Tomorrow's games: The battle for Nadeshiko League Nippatsu vs Nittaidai 13:00 The battle for Nadeshiko League 2 Jumonji vs Bunnys 13:30 The battle for Challenge League Nojima Due vs Tokiwagi 13:00
Retirement or signing for another club? For sure Vegalta's season has been a disaster and didn't help Haji's chance to come back in NT.
Actually, the only information we have received from Nagasato is, there was an agreement between her and Takakura two years ago, and that the request not to play for Nadeshiko Japan, atleast for a period of time, came from Nagasato herself. I think, the Nagasato situation is a difficult one at the moment and it's hard to assess what Takakura thinks about it, especially because we do not know the whole story behind the agreement yet. The question is, how would a Nagasato comeback affect the team? My opinion is: quality depth (+): I've seen some of her games this year for her new club and was quite impressed with her performances. She's always been a good goal scorer, but nowadays her ability to read the game and make the right decision at the right time, is quite remarkable. Imo there is no doubt, that Nagasato would make our team stronger. team atmosphere (-): It reminds me a bit of the Hegerberg situation with Norway. The nation's star striker refuses to play for the national team (due to personal reasons) and the team must qualify without her for the World Cup. After the hard work is done (without her), she is coming back? I dont know, how the players would feel about it. Effect on Iwabuchi (-): In the past Iwabuchi has always been in the shadow of Nagasato and Ohno. At that time she was a young player without much experience and the pressure to perform better than these two, may have prevented her from showing her full potential. So bringing back the former star striker in Nagasato, could have an negativ impact on Iwabuchi, especially if you consider, that she is in the form of her life now. Replacement of ... (+/-): Any nation is allowed to select a total of 23 players for the World Cup. Takakura currently has way more than 23 players to choose from. So bringing back Nagasato would mean, that one of our current squad members would miss out. The question is, who should it be?
Nadeshiko Challenge training match vs male high school students: 2-4 It's rare that a women team scores in this kind of game. Scorer: grove, little grove
Sigh: in the Yokohama's derby I was rooting for Emi Yamamoto and Ami Otaki. Now it will be difficult to come back from this home loss...
10/06 Argentina vs. Japan England vs. Scotland 14/06 Argentina vs. England Japan vs. Scotland 19/06 Scotland vs. Argentina Japan vs. England Good draw and placement.
Not bad at all: we avoided USA, Germany and host France from pot 1. Considering that we couldn't have got Australia since it's from OFC, England and Canada were the most "playable" (if not properly "beatable") from that pot. Pot 2 is optimal, since we avoided Italy, that was the most dangerous one in my eyes. New Zealand would have been better, but of course, when you have a three-way choice (South Korea, China and Thailand in that pot were an impossible match for us since fellow NTs from AFC) it's important not to get the worst one. Pot 4 shouldn't have been a problem anyway, but Nigeria, South Africa or Chile could have posed more problems. Argentina needed to play-off with CONCACAF#4 to qualify and it's one of the "softer" teams we could wish for. Very good draw, I'd say. We weren't seeded but it almost feels as we were. I couldn't follow the draw: do we know which teams we could find on our path if we advance from our group? Venues are already known? No group-stage match is on a week-end day, so it could be really difficult for me to go in France, but if some of them are in a town that's really close to Italy I could consider them.
It is hard to make any predictions, because it depends on ... a) in which order teams will qualify for the next round b) the teams you would like to avoid as long as possible c) your preference to have the easy or hard route to the final So i will go with ... a) to make any predictions, we say there will be no big suprises b) i would like to avoid those three teams: France, Germany, US c) the easy route (we will have hard enough matches, anyway ) 1) Then this would be our route, if we are going to win Group D: Round of 16: 3rd place Group B/E/F: one of those teams: China, Cameroon/New Zealand, Thailand/Chile Quarterfinal: Runners-up Group A/C: one of those teams: South Korea/Norway or Australia/Brazil/Italy Semifinal: Winners Group A/ Runners-up Group B/F: Most probably one of: France, Germany, Spain, Sweden Final: one of those Teams: US, Germany/Spain, Netherlands, Australia/Brazil 2) This would be the harder one (if we end up in 2nd place): Round of 16: Winners Group E: one of those teams: Canada/Netherlands Quarterfinal: probably Winner Group C: one of those teams: Australia/Brazil Semifinal: Winners Group B/F or Runners-up Group E: one of those teams: US/Canada/Netherlands, Germany/Spain Final: one of those Teams: France, Germany/Spain, England/Australia/Brazil Summary: If we end up in 1st place we would have one easier match-day (round of 16), but after that both routes to the final are looking equally hard to me
1/16 1st place in our group vs. 3rd BEF Germany/China/Spain or Cameroon or Chile 2nd place vs. 1E (Canada or Netherlands) 3rd place vs. 1B or 1A (Germany/China/Spain or France) there's no easy path...
Aya. Sob. #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/3emEdYR3zj— Ann Odong 🐨🇺🇬 (@AnnOdong) December 8, 2018 Couldn't resist...
Not really...however Alex Scott asked her the question if she miss playing football, Miyama response was: No. - She didn't elaborate.
This is very good for Nadeshiko. The key is they play Argentina first, so they should get a win and be on three points, which will put pressure on Scotland in the second game. I doubt Scotland will beat England considering they got pummelled 6-0 in their last game Obviously if Nadeshiko lose or draw against Argentina then the world cup could be a complete disaster, but they should beat Argentina and Scotland for that matter.