Olympics Quarter Final F.T.....USA 1-0 Japan So so disappointed...hey ho commentary...."been such a close game this"...absolutely
Extremely disappointed by the score. As always, we should work on our finishing. It's a shame, this team could have medaled, but the US boogeymam had to have its say.
Really just that one defensive error during added time to the first ET... hard to bear. I can't say the US was the better team, but congratulations to them anyway. I'm backing Spain to win it all.
USA had one big chance and they have the players that can burry those. It’s what makes them strong. Big improvement compared to Tokyo in terms of performance. Back then I was absolutely hopeless about this team. Now I am optimistic that we can still compete with the big teams. Hence I feel frustration instead of hopelessness. I wonder about Ikeda’s future though. I don’t think he was a failure. But I think he had his time to implement his ideas. One cycle per coach is usually what I support. JFA need to come up with some solution to breakthrough this wall of the quarterfinals we seem to be facing. Nothing but praise to the players.
Japan defensive play was outstanding (aside for the goal, that for me is more a good play than a mistake). But offensively it was an awful game, almost no chances, almost no possession, that is not the way I used to watch Japan play. Have a more physical body doesn't work if the touch and technique don't appear. The more players we have overseas the worse results we get. And I think the coach have to be sacked, he plays for the penalty shootout all along, and that is not forgivable for me.
I think massive respect for the team is in order. Before the game I expected to be steamrollered by the US, but Japan played such a brilliant defensive game, and had decent chances to win it today. They were inventive while going forward and for most of the match it looked like they had the means to beat the US. But again, it seems one of the crucial factors are the missing 20 or so per cent to the standard we were used to. Many promising situations broke down because of the decision-making and deficiencies in passing. What was Chiba doing in the final offensive moment of the game? Instead of getting the ball in the box, she effectively made a clearance for the US. Another question, Japan is regularly lauded for being such a technical team. Shouldn't they keep the ball better and dominate possession and chance creation, even against the bigger teams? Why can't they carry over the supremacy they showed in their U-WC wins?
I am not against him being sacked. I think he should step down. But he did not play for PKs. They had a clear counterattacking game plan and came close to implementing it on several occasions. Final touch simply wasn’t there. Also disagree with “having worse results with more players playing overseas”. Do you not remember the Tokyo Olympics? We barely got a win against Costa Rica and that was it. Also went to the quarter finals at the World Cup for the first time since 2015. They may not play the possession based game we were used to or you want to see. But they certainly got better results. Ideally, the next step for this team would be to hire an attack-minded manager who has been tested on the senior level. We got this far playing like the underdogs we are. Now it’s time to figure out a style that helps us compete on even footing with the best teams.
I watched the game against Spain and the Spanish team did what I expected from Nadeshiko: Short passes, possession, precision. Nadeshiko was famous for that for a while before they started to play more like other European teams. They needcto be more Spanish again. Et cetero censeo Tanaka should learn to play well against strong teams, not just weaker teams.
I'm drained by this close loss yet I have some optimism about the future moving forward for Japan. Nadeshiko were not obliterated by a tsunami of opposition goals by the highly talented offensive USA and played what I think was a well executed game plan except Nadeshiko do not have the "it" player(s) able to finish clinically consistently when only given a few precious opportunities given their highly defensive strategy employed in this match. As arm-chair pundits we can all second guess this highly defensive posture Japan adapted to play the World's most explosive offensive team which is without doubt currently the USA but if Nadeshiko had played more offensively I think it would have left Japan more exposed at the backend and possibly resulted in more goals for USA. As several of our local pundits have reiterated I see hope moving forward in the next five years that Japan looks as though they can compete against the very best in the World and be competitive not only on paper but on the field where it counts. I would have to say we are missing maybe three players who can really change the game and dictate the pace of the game as talented as the current crop of players are ie. Hasegawa, et al. they need some help and cannot do it themselves. I would hazard to say for one we are missing a clinical finisher; someone else to help in the midfield along with Hasegawa who is not prone to mistakes and is able to distribute the ball well and another defender who is cool under pressure and makes clinical distribution passes up the field. Maybe a bit controversial in me saying but I think a few of the current players (we know who they are) need to be retired from National Team) I must say and make way for some of the up and coming pool as well. It would also help in preparation for international tournaments if Nadeshiko could maintain some regularity of playing some exhibition matches internationally. Otherwise .... the future is promising and maybe I am disappointed presently but I see lots of positives in that Japan Nadeshiko looks as though they are to be taken seriously in terms of Women's Football as a contender. Ganbare Nadeshiko.
I also want to mention that it is much harder to play possession based football successfully now than it was back in 2015. I simply wonder if we have the players to be able to pull it off. Spain are not just more technically gifted than Nadeshiko, they have better special awareness and they are very very physical. In the first group stage game they committed 15 fouls compared to Nadeshiko’s 2. They are dominant because they don’t lose in 1 on 1 scenarios and when they are about to, they pull the opposition down to the ground with them. They do anything to keep the ball and disrupt the opposition. Do we have the players that can do all that? The 2011 team would be dominated by most top teams if they played today. That’s simply how far women’s football has come. I do think we should try at least. But I can see Nadeshiko becoming a cheap knock off of Spain. Edit: I know this sounds like a bleak take on my part, but I am still quite optimistic about Nadeshiko’s future after this game. I am also aware than Spain are losing currently. But that’s probably just the curse of WWC champions not winning the Olympics
And Hamano is a very promising player, but I think she tried to shoot from distance too often, when passing to her teammates on the flanks was probably the better option. One good thing about the loss is that I don't need to have a headache about potentially missing the final due to me having to travel on Saturday :clown:
I can’t fault Ikeda really — If Japan had nicked a goal in extra time instead of the US he’d be lauded as a strategic genius. I think he should stay.
I understand that it gives a kind of good impression because we took the USA to the extra time and were beaten by single goal. But I really don't think this has been the improvement at all (I understand there were injuries, even so). I really don't want Ikeda to continue. He's so limited. The team regressed from the World Cup. He barely qualified to the Olympics because he was wasting time on the experiment that everybody saw it wouldn't work - and never used it anyway in the end. In the end, his only idea was to put five at the back and 11 players behind the ball. Did he really think they could repeat the Spain game in the World Cup? That match was one off in which everything went to our way. The players did well today though. Even all the players are behind the ball, preventing the USA from scoring for over 90 minutes is not that easy thing to do. It's just some of the players seriously lacks the quality with the ball and keep giving the possession away or couldn't progress forward by playing out from the back. We just relied on the long balls on the transition so we didn't have enough bodies in the box unfortunately to meet some good crosses. I really don't know where we go from here. You can never beat physically against the top teams, and now technically we are so poor - poor basic skills and lost the football savviness too. We only have a few players who can trust with the ball. I also think some of players' repeated poor/bad decision makings come from a weak coaching - because some of the decision makings, I don't think they would ever do that when they play for their clubs - they would get bollocked by the senior players let alone the coach.
Sasaki Norio, head of women’s football at JFA says they will come to a conclusion about Ikeda’s tenure by the end of the month. But there is “no rush”.
She was doing that from Nigeria game. It's different to Tanikwa's goal - Tanikawa had a quick look at the GK's position before her shot. Hamano just going for power thinking she can beat GK from that ridiculous distance. The thing it gets me is that she would never do that in Chelsea shirt...
I don’t know who you are comparing this team to. But outside of the likes of France, Spain, England, Germany, we still have some of the most technical players in the world.
I would expect JFA to hire someone like Kusunose because they don’t like spending money on this team. Again ideally, I would want an attack minded coach from overseas that has some sort of success at the senior level but it probably won’t happen. But who knows, Sasaki said they don’t have any plans as of now and I trust his words. Maybe he can convince the JFA to find a high calibre coach even if it costs them a bit.
back at home, seen the scoreline and stats Reading the comments now, I'll try to rewatch the game before going to bed but probably wont post till tomorrow
Players & coach comments I found so far Saki Kumagai post match: “I felt the growth of the team. That’s why I wanted to go further. Honestly, I only felt confidence during this tournament. There wasn’t an opponent who I thought we couldn’t beat. I think we have reached the point where we feel that way against any opponent. But from there, there’s definitely a big hurdle thats preventing us from taking the next step. Each of us must work together as a team to overcome that hurdle and prepare for the next world championship. If you take me out of the equation, everyone else is very young. I believe this team has a bright future ahead. We should continue to be a group that consistently delivers results so that people can see Nadeshiko Japan has a bright future.” She said she hasn’t thought about her career in the NT but from her comments I think she knows this was her last big tournament. Yui Hasegawa post match: “We were able to defend the way we wanted and create chances within that. It was just that one goal we conceded, which is really frustrating. The hurdle of the quarterfinal is very high. In terms of the intensity in front of goal and the ability to seize a single opportunity, the U.S. was superior. The way we played, we at least could’ve taken it to penalties. But I also feel that not being able to win here reflects our current standing.” Hikaru Kitagawa (heartbreaking): “I left an opening for the opponent. I deeply apologize for losing because of that one mistake. My legs were heavy in overtime, but I was outmatched in that moment. I don’t want to use the pain from my injury as an excuse. Everyone was working hard even though they were cramping. It was a moment where I needed to endure. The Olympics were my dream stage. We’ve all fought together up to this point. There were many times when I couldn’t contribute… We had a goal to bring back a medal, and losing here is really frustrating. This was the biggest stage of my career. This tournament made me realize I want to become a stronger player. I wanted to bring back a medal and see everyone’s joyful faces. I’m sorry for not achieving that. I want to keep improving and continue to work hard. I played with strong feelings for my hometown (which was struck by a very big earthquake and tsunami at the beginning of this year) but I’m not sure if I was able to deliver any sort of encouragement to them through my play. I wanted to visit the disaster area with a medal. I still have a desire to repay my debt to them. I want to connect this to the future of my soccer career.” Ayaka Yamashita: “It was the best match we’ve played against the U.S. It could have gone either way in terms of scoring. Compared to Spain’s quality, they were a bit easier to play against so I’m glad our first match was against Spain. I keep thinking that if my positioning had been just one step or half a step to the right, I could have blocked the shot. I feel a strong sense of powerlessness for conceding and letting them score.” Ikeda: “It’s disappointing that the players’ hard work and fight did not result in a favorable outcome. I am pleased with their fight until the end and believe they were a fantastic team. I wish we could have shown the fans one or two more matches. In a sport where scoring is essential, we couldn’t convert our efforts into goals. At the same time, improving the individual abilities to win and retain the ball are crucial for further improvement. But for now, more than focusing on the shortcomings, I’m glad that each player has grown and that we fought together with a strong sense of unity towards the Olympics.” During the post match huddle he said to the team: “This team’s journey ends here, but everyone’s lives and Nadeshiko’s story will continue from here on.” Though he didn’t not answer any questions about his tenure clearly, it does sound like he will be stepping down. Bonus Sameshima on her Twitter account: “The hurdle presented by the U.S. is high. The hurdle from the top 8 to the top 4 is tough. Their ability to get something out of a game like that is exactly what defines the U.S. From the qualifiers, you could see Nadeshiko’s unity and sense of mission even through the screen. That’s why I wanted to see more of their games, but the 120 minutes felt like they flew by, and it was such a great match to cheer for. Nadeshiko, great job! Regarding the goal we conceded: From a full back’s perspective, there were two opponents (numbers 10 and 5) in her area, the ball holder was free, and number 10 on the inside moved forward first. Because Kitagawa had to follow that movement, she was late to respond to number 5 on the outside, making it a difficult situation to handle. Number 5 was in a more advantageous position from the start. The level of other countries, especially in Europe, is rapidly rising as nations, companies, and big clubs continue to invest heavily in women’s soccer. Winning at the world stage is much harder now, and if the national team doesn’t achieve results, it could significantly impact domestic soccer in Japan. However, I hope everyone continues to support Nadeshiko in their future challenges.”
Aoba Fujino “I wanted to achieve something tangible, but I feel that I was naive. By being included in the roster for the match against the U.S., it meant that other players couldn’t be included, and yet I ended up contributing nothing and going back to the bench. I can’t help but think, what have I been doing? I feel frustrated and want to cry with my teammates, but I don’t feel that I have the right to do so. About her injury: The pain is so severe that even walking is difficult. While applying for TUE, I had injections to block the pain physically. I still wanted to contribute to the team so I discussed this with Ikeda and the team doctor and brought myself to a pain level where I can play. The cause of the pain is still unknown. Without knowing the cause, I honestly don’t know what measures to take, so I will keep checking my condition. There might be a possibility of surgery, but I want to find the best option, consulting various people to make the best decision. I want to become a stronger, better player who can support my team.” Maika Hamano “I love this team so much… I wanted to give Sakisan a gold medal. Post match, Emma Hayes kept telling me to keep going. She comforted me by saying, ‘You’re still young, so keep pushing at Chelsea. Chelsea’s spirit is with you.”
Some very mature and humble responses from the players there! We've been lamenting the lack of finishing from the team, but having watched GER - CAN, are the others so much better, I wonder? The profligacy demonstrated by both teams there, especially CAN, was astounding.
I follow her since she played for Albi and U20. So it might be harsh to her, but it's the same mistake that she did so many times in 1-1 situation. But she can't be the only one to blame for the loss.